One Flight Down
by psych21
Summary: COMPLETED. Your first love is a special, sacred thing. What happens when that person suddenly gets thrown back into your life? Harvey/OC
1. Chapter 1

One Flight Down

Chapter One

Harvey walked down the street with Mike. They had left the office to get coffee together since they weren't able to spend as much time together working on cases.

"Admit it." Mike smiled. "You miss me."

"I'm not admitting shit." Harvey laughed. "Did you ever think that maybe I'm glad you aren't around to ogle Rachel all the time?"

"I didn't ogle Rachel all the time when we worked together." Mike protested.

He looked over and raised his eyebrow. "Oh really? You really think I didn't know about all the times you two snuck off together to do God only knows what in the office?"

Mike laughed. "You never said anything about knowing."

"I figured I would allow it as long as you didn't cost me winning cases." He laughed.

"Fair enough I guess."

It was nice to be able to joke around with Mike again after the drama of having him face trial for being a fraud, going to jail and then everything that had to happen to get him out of jail. Now that Mike was finally able to be a real, bona fide lawyer it felt like a huge weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He never realized how much of a weight was on his shoulders and how much guilt he felt about hiring Mike without him having a true law degree until now.

He was amazed they were able to get Mike out of prison and into the bar for real. He was also surprised that the scandal didn't make the firm crumble.

He was about to say something else and taunt Mike some more when someone caught his eye. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the woman who was standing on the corner of the street. She was about fifty feet away from him. Her phone was pressed to her ear. She looked like she was in a deep conversation with the person on the other end.

Although he hadn't seen her in two decades, there was no denying it was her. Her blonde hair was cut shorter than he was used to seeing, but her face still looked the same. Somehow she had managed to look like she hadn't aged a single day since high school. She was still beautiful.

Mike cleared his throat. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." He replied.

"Really? Because you are staring at that woman and you look like you have seen a ghost."

He looked at his friend and shook his head before turning his attention back on the woman. "I thought…I think I know that woman." He subtly pointed.

"It wouldn't surprise me." Mike laughed. "You've been with a lot of women in this city. Do we have to take the long way back to the office to avoid her?"

"Very funny." He looked over at Mike. "But no…at least I don't think so." When he turned back to look at the woman again, she was getting into a car.

He had thought about approaching her, checking to see if it really was her or if his mind was just playing tricks on him. But now that was no longer an option since she was speeding away from him.

"Who did you think that was?" Mike asked.

"It's not important." Harvey shook it off before starting to walk again. He must have been seeing things. There was no reason for her to be in the city. While he didn't know why, his mind was clearly playing tricks on him.

"Obviously it is because you look like you have seen a ghost."

"Just drop it." He demanded.

"Fine." Mike sighed.

"Let's get back to the office." He commanded. The likelihood that it was her was low. He wasn't even sure why she popped into his mind to begin with. His memories of her weren't something that crept into his mind often. Usually he only thought about her when he was feeling low and particularly sentimental. But he was determined to let it go. He didn't need the distraction right now.

* * *

"You wanted to see me, boss?" Victoria asked as she entered Robert Zane's office.

"Yes." Robert nodded, motioning for her to come and sit down.

"What's up?" She sat down across from him.

"I have a case that I need you to handle." He handed her the folder.

"Sure." She opened it up and skimmed it. "This seems pretty straight forward though. You usually only give me the difficult ones. Am I missing something here? Is there some twist I'm unaware of?"

"Rachel is working on this case on the other side." He explained.

"Oh." She now understood why he was giving it to her. He didn't want to have to go up against his daughter again. After what happened the last time, she understood his hesitation. "I see."

"I would appreciate it if you could handle this one for me."

"Of course." She nodded. Although she was trying to convey an air of confidence, she was nervous about this case. Rachel was still at Pearson Specter Litt. That was with Harvey's firm. She had been in New York City and working for Robert Zane for two years now.

In that time she had somehow managed to avoid running into Harvey, and it was something she had become proud of lately. It was almost like a game to see how long they could exist in the same profession and the same city without bumping into each other. She considered herself the winner.

But it seemed like that winning streak could end with this case.

"Is there anything else?" She asked.

"No." Robert shook his head. "Just know that I won't fault you if you lose this one. In the folder is what the client is willing to pay for a settlement. It's ok if you can't get her to go lower than that."

"Good to know." She said, standing up. "But you should know by now that I don't back down from a good fight. I'll get the settlement reduced."

He laughed. "I do know that. And that's why I poached you from your firm in Chicago."

* * *

Harvey sat in his office that night, trying to concentrate on the case in front of him. But his thoughts kept going back to the woman he saw on the street corner earlier. She looked so much like Victoria. He was mostly convinced it was Victoria. But it was also possible that he was seeing things. There were billions of people on this planet. The likelihood of it being his old high school girlfriend were slim.

Still…

Ever since he returned to the office he couldn't stop his thoughts from going to her. It had been a while since he thought this much about her. Every once in a while, after a few drinks, he would think about her. He would wonder where she was and if she was happy. He would think about their relationship and how unfair he was to her when they broke up.

He would think about having Vanessa find her. But then he would remember the look on Victoria's face when they broke up…the tears that flowed down her cheeks. He would remember how selfish he was. It always stopped him from seeking her out.

Not knowing if that was really her that he saw on the street was driving him crazy. He opened up his web browser and typed in her name.

Victoria Sullivan

Millions of links popped up so he narrowed it down.

Victoria Sullivan New York City

That search generated less hits and he scrolled down until something caught his eye. It was a link to a website for Rand, Kaldor and Zane. He clicked it, watching as it loaded an employee page. Within moments he was staring at a picture of her. To the side of the picture was a very short bio.

Victoria Sullivan deals primarily in mergers and acquisitions, but is well-versed in all types of corporation lawsuits. She is admitted to practice in the State of New York and the State of Illinois. She is a member of the American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association.

Ms. Sullivan received a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations with a minor in political science from Stanford. Afterwards she attended Stanford Law School, where she graduated at the top of her class.

Ms. Sullivan has been a Senior Partner at Rand, Kaldor and Zane since moving to New York City from Chicago in 2016.

After reading the bio, he stared at the picture. It was her. There was no doubt of it. But what he couldn't figure out was why she didn't reach out to him when she came to New York. She had been here for two years. If she was working with Zane's law firm, then she had to have known he was also in New York City. Robert had some deep ties to this firm and there was no way it didn't come up at some point in the conversation.

Her phone number was on the side of the website, underneath her picture. All he had to do to get answers was call her. But he found it difficult to do so. If he called her, he would have to explain how he got her phone number. And he really didn't want to admit that he had googled her.

So he closed his browser and shut his computer. He thought that closing the computer and not seeing her picture staring at him would help get her off his mind. But she was still invading his thoughts. He sighed and got up from the desk.

He poured himself a drink and then stood by the window. His thoughts went back to when he was in high school—more specifically a day during his junior year after baseball practice.

 _He exited the school later than most of his teammates because he had stayed later practicing his pitching with a teammate. He was surprised when he saw Victoria standing up against his car. He grinned as he approached her._

" _Hey Vic."_

" _Hey." She smiled._

" _You still waiting for me?" He knew that she had cheerleader practice at the same time he had baseball practice. Sometimes she went home after practice was over and sometimes she waited for him._

" _Maybe." She bit her lip._

" _You must have missed me." He teased._

" _Maybe." She shrugged._

 _He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "I missed you."_

" _You do realize we see each other all day long, right? I mean, we have all of the same classes except one." She pointed out with a grin on her face._

" _I know, and that class is my least favorite class ever." He leaned down and started to kiss her._

 _After a moment she pulled away. "Should we really be making out in the school parking lot? Are we really that cliché?"_

 _He couldn't help but smile. "No. We aren't. So where would you like to go so we can make out?"_

" _What makes you think you are getting a piece of this today?" She asked, gesturing to herself._

" _I think it because you have no willpower around me. You love me too much." He teased with a huge grin on his face._

" _Oh I do love you. But no willpower?" She laughed. "I think you are confused. It's you who has no willpower around me because you love me too much."_

" _You may be right about that." He nodded, leaning in to whisper into her ear. "But I do know the one spot that makes you weak in the knees."_

 _Her eyes got wide. "You wouldn't dare do that here."_

" _Wouldn't I?" He grinned, letting his hand move from her hip to her thigh._

" _Harvey…" She issued a warning._

 _But he wasn't about to stop because there was still a smile on her face. He let his hand slowly move to her inner thigh. He was always grateful when she didn't change out of her cheerleader uniform because the short skirt and shorts gave him better access. He let his hand graze her, watching as she closed her eyes._

" _See?" He whispered in her ear._

" _You aren't the only one who knows a weak spot." She grinned, opening her eyes. "Now let's get out of here because I don't want give anyone a show."_

He sighed as he finished his drink. Victoria was the first and only woman he was truly serious about. Although he had the on and off relationship with Scottie, he wasn't devastated when they were off—not like he was devastated after his relationship with Victoria ended. It was part of the reason he didn't let himself get too invested in relationships. He didn't want to feel that pain again.


	2. Chapter 2

One Flight Down

Chapter Two

Victoria smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles in her skirt as the elevator reached the 50th floor. She was at Pearson Specter Litt today so that she could meet with Rachel for a settlement conference about the case Robert handed her two days ago.

To be completely honest she was slightly nervous. It wasn't about meeting Rachel though. It was about possibly running into Harvey.

Stepping off the elevator, she turned to look at the names on the wall. Pearson Specter Litt. Her eyes lingered over the Specter a little longer than the others. Even in high school Harvey knew what he wanted out of his life. He wanted to be a name partner lawyer in a top New York City law firm. He wanted to be successful and have a reputation for winning. He wanted to live an exciting life. She could still hear him saying 'Life is this…I like this.' with the hand gestures.

It made her happy to know that he was successful in accomplishing his goals. It was also bittersweet because they had planned on creating that exciting life together. But that was just a silly high school plan.

The time for reminiscing was past though and she turned around to see Rachel approaching her.

"Hello. You must be Victoria Sullivan." Rachel held out her hand.

"Yes." She shook Rachel's hand. "And you must be Rachel. I recognize you from the pictures in your father's office."

"He doesn't still have the one from my high school graduation up, does he?"

"I'm afraid so."

Rachel groaned. "I keep asking him to take that one down."

She laughed. "He's too proud of you to take it down."

"Fair enough. Shall we go to the conference room?" Rachel asked.

"Lead the way." She smiled, following along. She was hopeful that she could avoid Harvey. Since she didn't know where his office was she kept her head down slightly.

"So may I ask why my father put you on this case?" Rachel asked once they reached the conference room and were both sitting down. "He has told me about you. I would have thought this case would be below your normal skill set."

"It's true. I don't normally handle these types of cases." She conceded. "But your father didn't want to take the case and battle against you again."

"He was too afraid to lose again?" Rachel quipped.

She smiled. Robert was right. Rachel was quick-witted. "Something like that."

"Well let's get down to business then."

* * *

"Do you think you can get your client to sign this agreement?" Victoria asked after a half hour of negotiations as she was packing up her stuff.

"I believe I can." Rachel nodded. "What about you?"

"They gave me their proxy." She shrugged. "They will sign whatever I place in front of them, especially since you compromised on punitive damages."

"Wonderful." Rachel smiled.

"Hey Rach, do you have a sec?" Mike asked as he barged into the room. "Oh. I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?"

"We just finished our business." Rachel explained. "Mike, this is Victoria Sullivan. She took over the Baker case for my dad."

"Oh." He nodded. "Hi. Nice to meet you."

"You too." She looked at Mike. He was staring at her like he was trying to figure something out. It was slightly awkward.

"Was Robert afraid to lose to you?" Mike asked with a chuckle.

"That's what I asked too." Rachel laughed.

"I will have my client sign this and I'll get it back to you within 24 hours." She spoke up.

"Sounds great." Rachel smiled. "Do you want me to walk you to the elevators? I know the hallways can be tricky to navigate the first couple of times."

"No." She shook her head. "I'll be fine but thank you. And it was nice to meet you both."

"You too." Mike smiled.

She left the room as quickly as she could because she wasn't sure why Mike was staring at her like that. She put that out of her head as she walked to the elevators and pressed the down button.

It only took a few moments for the elevator she was standing in front of to open. She was about to get on when she noticed who was in there. Her heart stopped for a moment as she came face to face with Harvey.

His hair style was changed from high school and the baby face she had spent two and a half years staring at had changed. But it still looked like he hadn't aged much at all the last twenty years. He was still as devastatingly handsome as always. As much as she hated it, she did feel her heart skip a beat as she stared at him.

She thought she saw a flash of recognition in his eyes for a brief moment before his face turned passive again. So she stepped off to the side to let him get off the elevator. With any luck he hadn't recognized her.

Her hopes were dashed when the elevator door started to close and he held it open.

"Are you going to go down with me, Victoria?" His rich, silky voice asked.

Her eyes darted to his face and she inwardly groaned at the fact that he did actually recognize her. Not having much of a choice, she entered the elevator. She did have a choice about how she reacted to seeing him so she decided to throw a retort back to him. "Harvey, you should remember I've never had any issue with going down."

He laughed heartily. "It's been a while." He spoke up once the elevator doors closed.

"Yes it has." She agreed, trying to keep her gaze on the elevator door—as if that would make it get down to the lobby any quicker.

"You're in New York City now."

"Yes." She nodded.

"And you're a lawyer now."

"Yes." She nodded.

"But you didn't want to be a lawyer before." He pointed out.

"No I didn't."

"What changed?" He asked.

"I changed." She answered.

"Are you going to even look at me or speak in more complete sentences?" He asked with a chuckle.

She turned to look at him, immediately regretting it because every time she looked at him, she saw the teenager that she fell in love with. "Happy now?"

"Happy-ish." He grinned. "How are you doing?"

"I'm great." She said, meaning it. Her life was good. She had a career she loved, the respect of her boss, a fantastic penthouse and the freedom to do whatever she wanted. "And you?"

"I'm good." He nodded. "Do you want to maybe get a drink sometime? We could catch up."

"I don't know if that is the best idea." She laughed.

"It's just a drink."

She sighed. This was probably going to be a mistake. "Ok. We can get a drink sometime."

"What are you doing tonight?" He asked without missing a beat.

"I'm busy." She smirked. "How about two weeks from now?"

"You're busy every night between now and then?" He chuckled.

"What can I say?" She shrugged. "My time and attention is in high demand."

"I bet it is." He smiled at her and took out his phone. "Why don't you give me your phone number and I'll call you to set up the details?"

"Ok." She took his phone and programmed her number into it. Thankfully after she handed the phone back to him the elevator door opened. "Bye Harvey."

"Bye Victoria."

* * *

Harvey had rode the elevator back up to the 50th floor and was on his way back to his office when Mike approached him.

"I think I saw the woman you were staring at the other day. She was here talking to Rachel." Mike said.

"Yeah. I know. I saw her too. Her name is Victoria." He nodded as they entered his office. He went straight to his desk and sat down.

"What's the story with her?" Mike questioned. "You looked like you had seen a ghost the other day and now you suddenly look happy."

"There is no story with her." He shook his head. "And don't you have some work to do instead of trying to dig up gossip?"

"I'm just curious."

"Well curiosity killed the cat."

"But cats have nine lives." Mike pointed out.

"I think you have already used up a few of those lives though." He chuckled.

"Possibly." Mike agreed. "I'll let it drop for now."

"Good." He nodded.

* * *

Victoria sat in her penthouse that night with a glass of wine in her hand as she read over some documents. It was late, but she didn't like going to bed until all of her work was done. Seeing Harvey today had more of an impact on her than she wanted to admit. He shouldn't have such an impact on her anymore. Their high school romance was over decades ago. But he was her first love and therefore was always going to have a special place in her heart. She couldn't help but remember the first time they met.

" _But why did dad have to take a job here?" She whined as her mom approached her new high school. "Why couldn't we just stay in Pennsylvania?"_

" _This job offers him more money and a less erratic work schedule. It will be better for everyone. You'll see." Her mom replied, stopping the car in front of the school._

" _Everyone except me." She grumbled._

" _I'm sorry you feel that way, but it would be nice if you could try to make this whole situation a little easier. Try to look for a bright side to moving here."_

" _Ok." She shook her head and exited the car. She then stood still, staring at the large building in front of her. They had just moved here two weeks ago, right before the start of a new school year. This was her sophomore year. It was supposed to be a year where she made a name for herself on the varsity cheerleading squad. But now she was going to have to start over from scratch and try to prove herself to a whole new group of people._

 _She missed her friends. She missed her old school. She missed her old house. But her mom was right. She did need to try and make this situation better. There had to be something good about this place. Hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to find what that something was._

 _She started walking towards the building when she felt someone collide into her. It caused her to fall down into the grass. She watched the guy who bumped into her run off and sighed. Before she could get up, she saw another guy come over and hold out his hand._

 _She took a good look at him. He had messy brown hair and an infectious smile on his face. But what drew her in were his eyes. They were a chestnut brown color that she felt she could get lost in for days. She finally had to avert her eyes before he thought she was a stalker for staring._

" _Are you ok?" He asked._

 _There was a high level of concern in his voice and it surprised her because they didn't know each other. Since he was offering, she grabbed his hand and let him pull her back up off the grass. "I'm fine. Thank you."_

" _Sorry about Jasper. He's an ass who has absolutely no manners at all." He shook his head._

 _She couldn't help but laugh. "I can tell."_

" _I haven't seen you here before." He stated. "I mean, it's not like I know everyone who goes here…I just…well I would have remembered seeing you."_

 _She smiled. "It's my first day."_

" _I wondered." He smiled back. "My name is Harvey."_

" _I'm Victoria."_

" _Nice to meet you."_

" _You too."_

" _So do you know where you are supposed to be going?" He questioned._

" _I actually have no clue!" She laughed. "All I know is I'm supposed to find the office to get my schedule."_

" _If you want, I could show you where the office is."_

 _She wanted to say yes immediately because it would mean she could talk to him longer. But she didn't want to appear desperate so she pretended to think about it for a moment. "Are you sure you don't mind?"_

" _Not at all." He told her. "Besides, what if Jasper comes back and knocks you down again?"_

 _She laughed. "Good point."_

 _She walked with him to the office, letting him do most of the talking as he explained somethings about the way the school operated. But all she could really think was that she was here less than ten minutes and had already found the something good about this school that she was looking for._

 _And his name was Harvey._

When she agreed to move to New York City, she knew that eventually she would run into him. It was a big city, but with them both being lawyers it was inevitable. What she didn't know was how he would react to seeing her again. He was furious with her the last time they spoke and the unpredictability of his reaction to her presence was part of the reason she tried so hard to delay running into him.

That's why today she was slightly thrown off balance when he didn't seem angry. He seemed genuinely happy to see her. Maybe time had made him realize he was wrong for being so angry with her back then.

While she wanted to go have drinks with him, she was nervous about it. That's why she made him wait two weeks. If he really wanted to have drinks with her, he could wait two weeks. If he was just being polite, then she would probably never hear from him again.

To be honest, her social calendar wasn't that full and she liked it that way right now. She worked most of the time, choosing work over forming any real friendships. She did have her yoga and Zumba classes, but other than that she just stayed in.

Dating was a nightmare. Most of the guys she went out with were jerks who were too busy trying to make themselves look better than they really were. They weren't gentlemen and they only seemed to want sex. While sex was fun, it wasn't the only thing she wanted.

She wanted to find that special person who enriched her life-that made everything better. She wanted to find someone who could take an ordinary, everyday task like going to the grocery or doing dishes and make it fun.

Unfortunately she had fallen into a habit of going on dates with idiots who did not enrich her life at all. So about two months ago she decided to take a sabbatical from dating and it was working out pretty well. Except she did miss the sex.


	3. Chapter 3

One Flight Down

Chapter Three

The next day, Harvey sat at his desk with his phone in his hand. He had been fighting the urge to call Victoria ever since she programmed her number into his phone. Actually, if he wanted to be honest with himself, he had been fighting the urge to call her ever since he found her employee profile on the Rand, Kaldor and Zane website.

This shouldn't be so difficult. He wasn't a dumb high schooler anymore, but he sure felt like it. He was reminded of many years ago when he picked up the phone twenty times before finally calling Victoria to ask her out. Back then he was afraid she would say no, and now he was afraid of the same thing. He was a grown man now though and he needed to act like it. Taking a deep breath, he quickly dialed her number before he could chicken out. He hated that it went straight to voicemail without even ringing.

 _Hello, you have reached Victoria Sullivan. Unfortunately I am unable to take your call but if you leave a message I will get back to you as soon as I can._

He started his message when he heard the beep. "Hey Vic, it's Harvey. I was just calling to see if you had a definite day and time available to get drinks with me. Give me a call back."

He thought using his old nickname for her would make her more likely to return his phone call. Now all he had to do was wait.

He looked up to see Donna entering his office. "What is it?"

"Jessica needs to see you in her office."

"Alright." He stood up and made his way over to Jessica's office.

* * *

"The Baker case is all wrapped up." Victoria said after entering Robert's office. She placed the file on his desk.

"Already?" He laughed, opening the file.

"C'mon. It shouldn't be that big of a surprise. You know I work fast." She rolled her eyes.

"I know." He smiled. "And it looks like you got Rachel to lower the settlement amount. Good job."

"Of course." She smiled. "She's a tough one though. Just like her father."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Always." She nodded.

"And you got along alright with Rachel?"

"Yeah. She was easy to work with." She nodded. "Do you have any other cases you want to give me because you can't handle them?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Actually, now that you mention it I do have a class action lawsuit. It's something that I could handle, but I would feel better if you were on it instead."

"Why? I don't normally do class actions." She pointed out.

"I know, but I would appreciate it if you would take the case."

"Alright. What are the specifics?" She sighed. Class action lawsuits were big commitments and she wasn't a big fan of them. But if Robert wanted her to do it, she would.

"It's a medical malpractice suit against Williams Synthesis. There was a defect in the metal used in the device they sold for knee and hip replacements. All of the preliminary information is in here." He handed her a stack of files.

"Robert, you know I'd do anything you ask, but medical malpractice class action suits are not my strong suit." She took the files and held them in her lap.

"Then I guess it is a good thing you will have a partner in this." He chuckled. "We are teaming up with another firm. They are representing the clients who had issues with the hip replacements and we are representing the knee replacement clients."

"So we are splitting this class action?" It wasn't a bad idea but she wondered who the other firm was. Then it hit her. Robert didn't just send her to work on the Baker case because of not wanting to get into it with Rachel. He sent her because he planned on making her work with Pearson Specter Litt on this class action and he wanted to see if she could work well with Rachel.

"Yes." He nodded.

"And let me guess…the other firm is Pearson Specter Litt."

"You figured that out already?" He chuckled.

"Of course. You're getting predictable in your old age." She joked.

"We are splitting this case with them. Jessica Pearson and I ironed out all of the details about a week ago." Robert informed her.

"Alright. I'll take the case." She didn't want to take a case with Harvey's law firm. But she was completely loyal to Robert so she would do it. Besides, it didn't mean she was going to have to work with Harvey. The likelihood that he would be on the case was small.

"Wonderful!" He smiled. "Thank you Victoria. Have you ever met Harvey Specter?"

"Why?" She suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

"He is the one Jessica is assigning this case to. So you will be working with him. Rachel is part of his team. So you will be dealing with them for this suit." He informed her.

"Great." She kept a fake smile on her face. "I can't wait."

"Good."

"I better go get started on these files." She picked them up and headed out of the office. When she got back to her office she placed the files on her desk and sat down. She picked her phone out of her pocket and saw that she had a voicemail from a number she didn't recognize. Hitting a few buttons, she played the voicemail.

" _Hey Vic, it's Harvey. I was just calling to see if you had a definite day and time available to get drinks with me. Give me a call back."_

She sighed after listening to the message. He was the only one she ever let call him Vic. She never liked it when others tried to call her that. It just seemed wrong to hear anyone other than him call her Vic. She quickly shook that thought from her head.

Since they were going to be working together, she should probably call him back. Briefly she wondered if he knew that they were going to be paired together yet, but she realized it didn't matter. So she pushed the call back button and waited for someone to pick up.

"Harvey Specter's office."

She hadn't expected to get his office phone or who she assumed was his secretary but went with it. "Hi. This is Victoria Sullivan. I'm returning Harvey's call."

"Oh. He's actually in a meeting right now. Do you want to leave a message?"

"Ok. Can you please just let him know I called and he can call me back if he wants." She sighed.

"Of course."

"Thank you."

"Have a good day."

"You too." She then hung up her phone.

* * *

Harvey entered Jessica's office with his usual swagger. "Hey. Donna said you wanted to see me?"

"What do you know about hip and knee replacements?" Jessica asked.

"Not much." He chuckled. "But I know enough to know you aren't old enough to need one yet so I would get a second opinion if I were you. That doctor has got to be a quack."

"Very funny." Jessica smirked. "But no, I'm actually talking about a medical class action suit against Williams Synthesis. A bunch of people are claiming that there was a defect in the metal used for knee and hip replacements."

"And we are representing them?" He guessed.

"We are representing the hip replacements." Jessica corrected him.

"Who is representing the knee replacements?" He asked.

"Rand, Kaldor and Zane." Jessica explained. "Robert and I have settled all of the details. You will work with one of their senior partners on this and I expect you to win."

"Don't I always?" He laughed. "Who is the senior partner he is assigning?"

"His protégé, Victoria Sullivan."

He grinned. It must be his lucky day. He would enjoy working with Victoria.

"Do you know her?" Jessica asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"I knew her in the past." He explained.

"Is working with her going to be a problem in the present?"

"Not on my end."

"What about her?" Jessica chuckled. "Is she going to want to work with you?"

"I don't honestly know anymore. That's a question only she can answer." He answered Jessica's question as honestly as he could. After running into her at the elevator he didn't get the feeling she cared one way or the other about seeing him again. But then again, she did seem much more guarded with her emotions than she used to be.

It used to be that he could take one look at her face and know exactly what she was feeling. But those days were clearly gone.

"In that case, I want you to be on your best behavior." Jessica warned him. "It was difficult enough to get Robert to agree on splitting the class action with us and you know that a large settlement could really help the firm. I don't want you to do anything personally that could screw it up, especially with his protégé."

He chuckled. "Are you trying to tell me in a subtle way not to sleep with her?"

"I can't tell you not to sleep with her any more than I can tell the sun to stop shining." Jessica laughed. "In the end you will do what you want to do. It's who you are and I've accepted that. Just please try your best not to sabotage this whole thing."

"I promise I will not sabotage this class action." He smiled.

"Good. Donna already has the files for the case and I bet they are waiting for you on your desk by now." She informed him.

"Thank you Jessica." He couldn't help but grin all the way back to his office. He was so deep in thought that he didn't see Donna follow him into his office. It was only after she started talking that he realized he wasn't alone.

"Who is Victoria Sullivan?" Donna asked.

"Why do you ask?" He asked, looking at her.

"Because she called about ten minutes ago. She said she was returning your call. Correct me if I'm wrong but you don't have any clients by that name. I don't remember placing a call to her so you had to have had her phone number already. And she called you Harvey instead of Mr. Specter, so that makes me think there is a certain level of familiarity there. So spill. Who is she to you?"

"Donna…" He wasn't sure he wanted to get into it right now.

"You might as well tell me."

"She is someone from my past who is now in my present." He explained.

"Well that certainly is vague." Donna rolled her eyes.

"I intended for it to be vague."

"Good job then." She sighed. "If she is from your past, why haven't you ever mentioned her before?"

"I don't know." He lied. He never mentioned her to Donna because he felt ashamed about how he handled everything back then. Although he was only in high school at the time, he knew the way he treated her was wrong. He should have done so many things differently but he didn't because he was too caught up in his own selfish behavior.

"So who is she?" Donna asked again.

"She is from Robert's firm and will be working on the class action with us." He explained.

"That's not a good enough explanation. Besides, you called her before you knew about the class action." Donna pointed out.

"I'm not getting into this right now." He put his foot down on the subject.

"Fine." She sighed. "But you know I will find out sooner or later."

"Fine. I choose later." He laughed. He waited until Donna was out of his office before picking up the phone and dialing Victoria's number. She answered on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's Harvey." He greeted.

"Hey." She greeted back. "I was wondering how long the phone tag was going to go on."

"Well it looks like I got you." He joked.

"Yeah, you did." She chuckled. "So it looks like we are going to be working together."

"Yeah. I'm glad I'll be working with you. I'm not a big fan of most the people who work at your firm." He admitted.

"To be honest, I'm not a big fan of most of them either." She laughed.

He liked hearing her laugh and didn't want this call to end. "So since we are working together now, shouldn't we get together and compare notes?"

"Well I just got this case a little bit ago and I haven't had a chance to read up on it yet." She explained.

"Neither have I." He admitted. "Maybe we could start prepping together? We could go to dinner tonight and try to make sense of the case together."

"I don't know if dinner is such a good idea."

"You have to eat. I have to eat. We need to go over the case together. We might as well do it while having dinner."

She was quiet and he started to wonder if she had hung up.

"Alright. You win. We can have dinner." She finally agreed.

"Wonderful." He sighed with relief. "I'll text you with where and when later."

"Sounds good."

"And I'll see you later." He said.

"Yeah. Bye Harvey." She didn't wait to hang up.

He put his phone down and stopped to wonder why he was so anxious to have dinner with her. It was unlike him to pursue a woman this heavily. Usually if they didn't seem interested he just moved on without a second thought. But he was doing everything he could to get her to spend time with him and was thrilled that he was tethered to her on this class action suit. He could try and lie to himself, saying he invited her to dinner simply because of the case they had to work on together. But even he was self-aware enough to realize that was a lie.

It made him question why.

Did he still have feelings for her? Did he just feel guilty about the way he acted when they broke up? Did he just want to catch up with her?

At this point he didn't know. All he knew was ever since he saw her on the street the other day he had this overwhelming urge to talk to her.


	4. Chapter 4

One Flight Down

Chapter Four

Victoria entered the restaurant later that evening with her bag containing all of her notes and files for the class action. She tried hard to convince herself that this was simply a business meeting where they would be eating dinner together. This wasn't a date and it wasn't a social visit either. This meeting needed to be as professional as possible.

His text had asked her to meet him at this tiny Italian restaurant. It was a small hole in the wall place that she had walked right by at first.

She glanced around for Harvey, spotting him already seated at a table in the corner. He had his head down, reading what looked like his own files. Since he didn't see her yet, she stood there for a moment and took the opportunity to get a good look at him.

He looked different than he did back in high school. They both did. He had grown out of the baby face he used to have. His muscles had filled out more and he was definitely a better dresser.

She still wasn't convinced that coming to dinner with him was a good idea. It seemed too intimate, especially now that she was here. There were many reasons she didn't try to get in contact with him when she came to New York. But she had agreed to dinner and couldn't back out now. They were going to have to spend time together on this case anyway. So she should make the best of this. She made her way over there, noticing he looked up when she got close to the table.

"Hello." He smiled widely, getting up from the table as she approached.

"Hi." She gave him a small smile before sitting down. "Am I late? Because I thought I was a few minutes early."

"No." He shook his head. "You aren't late. I just got here early so I decided to go over a few things."

"Oh. Good." She was relieved because she hated to be late for things. She was about to comment on his restaurant choice when the waitress came over.

"Hey." The woman smiled. "Welcome to Margino's. My name is Sandra. I'll be taking care of you today. Can I get you something to drink?"

"I'll have a glass of white wine please." She knew that the only way she would be able to get through this dinner was with some wine.

"Alright." Sandra then looked at Harvey. "And what can I get you?"

"I'll have the same, so please go ahead and make it a bottle." He said, not even looking at the waitress. He was too busy looking at her and she wondered why. His gaze was kind of intense.

"I'll have that right out." Sandra then walked away.

"So have you been here before?" She asked.

"Yeah, a few times."

"So what is good here?" She hoped asking for a recommendation would make things less awkward.

"Everything is pretty good. I think their fettucine alfredo is the best." He explained.

"I might get that then." She said, glancing down at the menu.

"Here you go." Sandra said as she approached and put the opened bottle down on the table. "Are you ready to order or do you need a few more minutes?"

"I'm ready if you are." He said, gesturing to her.

"Ok." She nodded. "I'll have the fettucine alfredo with mushrooms."

"Good choice." Sandra nodded, then looking at Harvey. "And for you?"

"I'll have the same." He told her.

"Alright." Sandra collected their menus and then went off towards the kitchen.

"So why choose this place?" She couldn't help but ask.

"It's quiet. The food is good. And I thought that maybe there was a chance you still loved Italian food." He replied.

"I do still love Italian food." She smiled. "I can't believe you still remember that after all these years."

"I remember more about you than you think." He grinned. "So how have you been?"

"I've been fine." She answered.

"You still aren't going to give me a more detailed answer than that?" He chuckled.

"Wasn't planning on it." She shook her head.

"So how did you end up becoming a lawyer?" He asked. "I bet that has to be an interesting story because you never seemed to care about the law before."

"I don't really want to talk about it." There were too many bad memories associated with that explanation and she didn't feel like getting into it.

"Ok." He sighed. "How about telling me what brought you to New York? How did you end up working for Robert?"

"I don't really want to talk about that either." She could tell that he was trying not to get frustrated by her lack of sharing.

"Is there anything you are going to tell me about your past?"

"I didn't come here planning to tell you anything about my past. Why do you want to know so badly?" She asked.

"I just thought that we could also use this dinner as a chance to catch up. We haven't seen each other in years. I'm sure a lot has happened in your life, just like a lot has happened in mine." He explained.

"A lot has happened in my life." She nodded. "You're right about that. But I'm not sure we really need to talk about the past. Why don't we just stick to safe subjects, like talking about the present and this case?"

"But I'd like to talk about the past."

"Why?" She laughed. "The past is the past and it can't be changed."

"I know, but you really don't want to catch up on what's happened in each other's lives?"

"Why should we?" She questioned. "You already know the important and relevant parts of my life. I live in New York, I am a lawyer and I work for Robert. I know the important and relevant parts of your life. You live in New York and are a name partner for your own law firm."

"That's really the way you want it?"

She could see it in his eyes. He was slightly hurt about her lack of enthusiasm for talking about their pasts. But to be honest, she had to do it. If she found out any more about his life than she already knew, she wouldn't be able to compartmentalize anymore. She would have to think of him as the guy she was head over heels in love with all those years ago instead of just someone that she used to know and has to work with now.

"Ok." He finally sighed. "If that's the way you want it…" He trailed off.

"Thanks you. Maybe we should start talking about the case." She suggested.

"Alright." He nodded.

The truth was, she already knew about some of the things that had happened in Harvey's life. Three years ago she went back to Boston to attend a law conference held at Harvard. On the last night she went out to dinner by herself and ended up at a restaurant called Gordon's.

 _Victoria entered the restaurant. It was a Wednesday night. Most restaurants wouldn't be busy, but this one was busier than she expected. She was glad that the concierge at the hotel told her to make a reservation. Moving to the hostess station, she smiled at the lady behind the podium._

" _Do you have a reservation?" The woman smiled._

" _Yes. It's under Sullivan." She explained._

" _Oh yes. Here it is. Right this way please."_

 _She followed the hostess to a table near the window and promptly sat down._

" _Your waiter will be with you shortly." The hostess said before going back to the hostess station._

 _She took a good look at her surroundings. It was a nice restaurant. Hopefully the food was good too. She had offers from some of the other conference goers to grab dinner with them but she just wanted some time to herself without having to talk about lawyer topics. She loved the law and was glad that her firm sent her to this conference. But it was weird to be back in Boston._

 _This was the first time she had been back since she moved away senior year of high school. It was certainly bringing up some memories and feelings that she had been trying to suppress._

 _She sighed and opened her menu to figure out what to have before the waiter came by._

" _Can I start you off with something to drink tonight?" A voice asked._

 _She looked up and started to smile. "Marcus? Oh my God. Is that really you?"_

" _In the flesh." He smiled._

 _She got up and gave him a hug. "It's so good to see you."_

" _You too Victoria. It's been far too long."_

" _What are you doing here?" She asked, sitting back down. And motioning for him to join her._

" _I could ask you the same thing." He chuckled as he sat down across from her. "But actually, I own this place."_

" _Seriously?" She was surprised by that. Although he was only in middle school when she knew him, she never would have guessed he would own a restaurant. "That's wonderful."_

" _It turns out I'm actually pretty good at it too." He smirked._

 _There was that trademark Specter swagger. She had to admit she missed that swagger. Then the name dawned on her. "Oh, and you must have named the restaurant after your father. That's sweet."_

" _Yeah." Marcus nodded. "He actually passed away several years ago though, before I got the restaurant off the ground. Seemed only fitting to name it after him since he was such a big supporter of the idea."_

" _I'm so sorry about your father." It made her incredibly sad to hear that Gordon was dead. He was always so nice to her and she knew how much Marcus and Harvey loved their father. It must have devastated them to lose such an important person in their lives. "He was a great man. I always liked him."_

" _He was a great man." Marcus smiled. "So what are you doing back here?"_

" _I am actually here for a law conference at Harvard." She explained._

" _Law? I thought you were going to be a doctor."_

 _She saw the confused look on his face and nodded. "I was, but then I changed my mind and went into law. And once you go into the law, you never go back to medicine."_

" _I see." He nodded. "Well that is certainly surprising. I never would have guessed you would end up a lawyer."_

" _I surprised even myself with that." She laughed. "So I see you have a wedding ring. Who is the lucky lady?"_

" _That would be Katie. She is an amazing woman who somehow puts up with me on a day to day basis. We actually have two kids, a boy and a girl."_

" _I'm happy for you." She smiled. "Looks like things are going well for you."_

" _They are for the most part." He nodded. "How about you?"_

" _I just got engaged about a month ago." She held up her left hand._

" _Nice rock." He smiled. "Is he a good guy?"_

" _He is." She nodded._

" _Damn." He chuckled. "And here I was still hoping that you and Harvey would get back together. I always wanted you to be my sister-in-law."_

" _Sorry Marcus." She smiled. "I think that ship sailed a long time ago and neither Harvey nor I were on it."_

" _Can't blame a guy for trying." He smirked._

 _Since Marcus was the first one to bring Harvey up, she could feel justified in asking after him. "So how is your older brother doing?"_

" _I have absolutely no clue." Marcus sighed._

" _What do you mean?" She questioned. "You and Harvey used to be so close."_

" _Used to be is the key phrase there."_

" _What happened?" As soon as she asked, she felt bad. "You obviously don't have to tell me. That was rude of me to ask."_

" _No, it's ok." He assured her. "Harvey hasn't been a real part of the family ever since he exposed our mom's history of cheating to our dad, causing them to divorce. It actually happened right after his high school graduation. I guess he had been keeping the secret for almost a year and eventually couldn't take it anymore. So he helped destroy our parents' marriage and hasn't spoken to our mom ever since. Actually I take that back. He yelled at her at our father's funeral. We don't really talk much."_

" _I'm sorry." That was a lot of information for her to take in. If what she heard was true, then Harvey knew about his mother's cheating while they were still together. That would explain why he was growing more distant. He was trying to deal with that. It made a lot of sense now._

" _It's fine." He shrugged it off._

 _She had spent enough time around Harvey's younger brother in the past to know when Marcus was bluffing. The separation from his older brother was wearing on him, even if he didn't want to admit it._

" _I've probably taken up enough of your time." Marcus said, getting up from the table. "It's been great to see you again. Anything you want tonight is on the house."_

" _You don't have to…"_

" _Nonsense." He interrupted. "I insist."_

" _Well thank you."_

She refocused her attention on Harvey, who seemed to be oblivious to the fact that she was lost in her own thoughts for a few moments.


	5. Chapter 5

One Flight Down

Chapter Five

"So Robert really did that?" Harvey laughed after dinner.

"Yes." She laughed. "He came into work last Halloween dressed up as Michael Jackson, sequined glove and everything. Then after a couple of drinks at the Halloween party he proceeded to do the moonwalk in the conference room."

"Oh man. I wish I could have seen that."

"Really?" She scoffed playfully. "Because I wish I could unsee it. It was so weird."

"Sounds entertaining though. Our parties aren't nearly as much fun. Usually they just involve the junior partners trying to have sex with each other." Maybe it was the three glasses of wine they had each drank over the past two hours, but they were getting along great. The awkwardness that had been around them when she first got here was gone. He was having a great time talking to her and he thought she was having a good time too.

He was hurt earlier when she said she didn't want to talk about the past. It was unlike her. This version of Victoria was definitely more guarded than the high school version and it made him even more curious about her past. He doubted he would find out right now. But he was determined to find out sooner or later. He would wear her down.

They had already gone over the case. Even though it was a class action, it was pretty clear cut and it didn't seem like it would be too difficult to force a settlement. Some class action lawsuits lasted for a couple of years. It looked like this one would only last a couple of weeks or a month at the most. So he knew he needed to act fast.

About halfway through dinner they started talking about their firms. Thankfully that fell under the present category that she insisted upon. He told her about Donna, Mike, Jessica and even Louis since she already knew things about Mike and Rachel from Robert. She was now in the middle of telling him things about Robert that he didn't know.

He had tried to sneak in questions to get her to tell him something…anything about her life from the time she left Boston until now but she steered the conversation away every time. He was dying to know what changed her mind from the medical career she wanted to becoming a lawyer. He wanted to know just how she ended up here in New York working for Robert. But she didn't want to give up any personal information.

"It was certainly something." She took a drink and frowned. "My glass is empty again."

"That's what happens when you drink it all." He joked.

"Really?" She laughed. "That's what happens? I never would have guessed."

"I'd say let's get another but I'm not sure getting another bottle is a great idea." He told her.

"It is if you are trying to get me drunk." She informed him with a smile on her face. "Is that your plan? Get me drunk so I will talk about the past?"

"I don't have a plan." He assured her.

"Sure you don't." She scoffed. "I just know that the Harvey I knew in high school always had a plan."

"Maybe I've changed?" He laughed.

"Nah." She chuckled. "I think you still have plans for everything."

"Maybe we should call it a night." He suggested. He could tell that she was inebriated and vowed to make sure she got home safely. She wasn't drunk, but he still didn't want to let her go off on her own in New York City at night. He pulled out his phone and texted Ray to come pick them up.

"Maybe you're right." She agreed. "We do have to go to work tomorrow."

He paid the bill and watched as she got up from the table. He put his hand on her back as they walked out of the restaurant—not because she needed the stability, but just because he had been wanting to touch her all night and it seemed like a good way to do it without having her get mad at him.

They waited outside for only a couple of minutes before Ray pulled up. He opened the door for her to get in, closing the door afterwards before crossing behind the car to get in on the other side. "Where do you live?"

"I already told the driver my address." She said. "He said it wasn't a problem because he knew where it was."

"Ok." He nodded. "By the way, Ray, this is Victoria. Victoria, this is Ray. He is the best driver in all of New York."

"Hi Ray." She smiled.

"Hello." Ray greeted.

"Vic, can I ask you something?" He wanted to ask her this all night but wasn't brave enough until now.

"Sure. I guess you can ask me one question. So you better make it count." She looked over at him. "What is it?"

"I know you have been in New York City for a while now. Why didn't you ever look me up and say hello?"

She looked at him like he had grown a second head.

"Seriously?" She laughed. "That's your question?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Why?"

"It's a pretty stupid question." She laughed harder. "You just wasted your question."

"What's so stupid about it?" He really didn't see the reasoning for her to laugh so much about it.

"Don't you remember what happened the last time we spoke?"

Of course he did. He could still remember everything about it.

 _It was a dark evening. Snow started to fall as he walked towards Victoria's house. Although it was only the beginning of December, it was cold outside and this was the first real snow of the season. He stopped next to a for sale sign that was stuck in the yard out in front of her house and closed his eyes. So that must have been what she was trying to tell him today when he blew her off._

 _This wasn't going to be fun. He had a feeling he knew what she was going to say and it wasn't good news._

 _He went to the front door and rang the bell. It only took a few moments for the door to open. He was now face to face with her._

" _Hey." She greeted._

" _Hi."_

" _Do you want to come in?" She offered._

" _Not really. Can you come out here?" He watched as she grabbed her coat. She closed the door behind her and stepped onto the porch._

" _What are you doing here?" She asked quietly._

" _I realized you were trying to tell me something today and I brushed you off. I felt bad about it so I came over." He explained. "Now I see what you were trying to tell me." He pointed to the for sale sign. "How long have you known about this?"_

" _My mom told me about it last night."_

" _Why are you moving?"_

 _She sighed. "My parents are getting a divorce because my dad has been cheating on my mom with a nurse at work. And it's not the first time he has done this. I guess it happened back in Boston and was why we had to move here in the first place. This place was their second chance, but my dad just kept cheating and my mom is finally tired of it."_

 _He closed his eyes. Why couldn't people just stop cheating on the ones they claimed to love? First his mom cheated on his dad and now Victoria's dad cheated on her mom. Why was it so hard for people to be loyal to the ones they claimed to love?_

" _So she is divorcing him and we are moving to be closer to my grandparents."_

" _Where do they live again?" He asked._

" _Arizona."_

" _Shit." He sighed._

" _Yeah." She nodded. "Shit is right."_

" _You can't stay here with your dad?" He asked._

" _No." She shook her head. "And even if that was possibility, I wouldn't do it for several reasons."_

" _Even though it would mean we could still be together?" He was getting angry now._

" _Are we even together now?" She questioned._

" _Of course we are. Why the hell would you ask me something like that?" He yelled._

" _I think it is a fair question. You have been pushing me away for the last few months—slowly and deliberately." She said calmly. "I don't know what is going on with you but you are getting more and more distant every day. You're moody and we are arguing more than we ever did before. I've been walking around on eggshells trying not to set you off while hoping you would let me in about whatever is bothering you. But you aren't letting me in. I don't know what I did but you aren't happy with me."_

" _There's nothing wrong and our relationship is fine." He lied._

" _Bullshit." She scoffed. "You have to have known that our relationship has been in trouble for months now."_

" _So your answer is just to leave?"_

" _Harvey, I don't really have a choice here." She explained. "I asked my dad if I could stay with him instead and he said he didn't want me to. Ok? He wants me to go live with my mom because he doesn't want me around. So I have to go with my mom."_

" _What about the plans we were making?" He asked. "We were going to go to Harvard together. You were going into medicine and I was going to be a lawyer."_

" _I know." She nodded. "It breaks my heart that I have to go. But…"_

" _No. I don't think you really care. You don't care about me and you don't care that you are leaving." He accused her, scoffing and shaking his head._

" _I do care." She objected. "Harvey I love you…"_

" _No you don't!" He yelled. "If you loved me…truly loved me…then you would stay. You wouldn't leave me like this."_

" _What am I supposed to do?" She yelled back. "I can't control the fact that my dad couldn't keep it in his pants and I can't control the fact that parents' marriage is breaking apart. And by the way, thanks for asking if I'm ok with the fact that my family has been torn apart and the fact that my own father doesn't want me around. I really appreciate the concern."_

" _Vic I just…"_

" _You're just making it all about you, which is what you have been doing for months now." She accused him. "But it isn't about you this time, Harvey."_

" _I realize that."_

" _Well you could have fooled me!" She scoffed._

" _I just am caught off guard by everything."_

" _And I'm not?" She scoffed. "Everything in my life is crumbling down around me. But I don't expect you to understand that."_

 _The truth was he did understand that. But he couldn't tell her that. "When are you leaving?"_

" _Monday." She answered._

" _So soon? That's only three days away." It didn't seem fair that she had to leave that quickly._

" _My mom wants to get away from my dad as soon as possible." She explained. "She's even filed for divorce already."_

" _I guess this is it then." He sighed. "We're going our separate ways."_

" _You really want to break up?" She asked softly._

" _Arizona is too far away for us to continue to date." He explained._

" _But we would only have to do long distance for six months. Then I could come back here. We could still go to college together."_

" _That won't work." He shot down her idea. "Long distance isn't the answer."_

" _But it would only be for a short time. Then we could still go through with our plans…"_

" _No." He shook his head. There was no way he could do a long distance relationship. He wanted to trust her and believe that she wouldn't cheat on him if she was living on the other side of the country, but given his experience with his mother and now Victoria's father…he couldn't take that chance. "It won't work. We should just break up now."_

" _But we don't have to…"_

" _Yes we do." He interrupted. "Long distance won't work because I can't trust that you won't cheat on me. I mean, look at your dad. It's in your genetics to cheat."_

" _You're kidding, right?"_

" _No." He shook his head._

" _You're a fucking jerk." She scoffed._

" _If that's true, then you should be glad to be rid of me." He chuckled._

" _If this is how you want to end us, then goodbye Harvey. Have a nice life." She turned around and went back into the house._

"You weren't very nice back then." She pointed out softly.

"I was caught off guard." He admitted. "And I was a young idiot. I know I didn't handle it properly. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have accused you like that. You had given me no reason to believe you would ever cheat on me."

"No I didn't. But that was a long time ago." She put a smile on her face. "It doesn't matter anymore."

He could tell that the smile was a fake one. It was the same one she used to put on in high school when she was upset but didn't want to let it show. He was about to say something when Ray parked outside his building.

"Um, why did you give Ray my address?" He asked.

She laughed. "I didn't. I gave him my address."

"I live in this building." He said, pointing.

"So do I." She pointed.

"What floor are you on?"

"35th."

"I'm on the 36th." He laughed. "How long have you lived there?"

"Ever since I moved here two years ago." She laughed.

"You've been one flight down from me this whole time?" He couldn't believe it.

"Apparently." She shook her head. "Talk about a coincidence."

He saw her get out of the car. "You are free to go for the night Ray. Thanks."

"See you in the morning, boss." Ray smiled before leaving.

Harvey hurried to catch up to Victoria. "Wait!" He caught up to her at the elevator.

"What is it Harvey?" She asked, not turning to look at him.

"I still can't believe you live here too."

"Yeah." She laughed. "I know what you mean. Who would have guessed?"

He got in the elevator with her. "This will make it much easier for us to work on this class action."

"Yeah."

The smile on her face faded after his statement and he wondered why. But he didn't have much time to wonder. The elevator in their building was fast and they were stopping on her floor. She stepped out of the elevator and held the door open.

"Thank you for paying for dinner, even though I'm sure you put it on the company card." She told him. "I'll be in touch soon to discuss our next steps with the case."

She then turned around and walked down the hallway. Not wanting to end the night like this, he stopped the door from closing and went after her. It wasn't until she got to her door that she turned around.

"Harvey? What are you doing?"

She looked at him like he was crazy again. He felt like he needed to clear something up. "I want you to know that I am really glad to see you again."

"It's good to see you too, Harvey." She smiled.

"And I am sorry for what I said all those years ago."

"I know." She nodded.

"I think we are going to have fun working on this case together."

"Yeah." She agreed. "And now I know if I ever need to borrow a cup of sugar, I have a neighbor upstairs that can lend me some."

He grinned. "Yeah."

"Goodnight Harvey." She said before turning back to her door. A moment later she was inside her penthouse and he was left on her doorstep, staring at her closed door.


	6. Chapter 6

One Flight Down

Chapter Six

The next afternoon, Victoria sat at her desk. She kept staring at the computer screen. It was open to a word document because she was trying to finish some questions for an upcoming deposition. But her mind kept drawing a blank on what questions to ask. The blinker on the screen taunted her as it flashed at the location where she stopped typing.

Her vision moved over to the stack of files on the corner of her desk—the class action suit with Harvey. Dinner last night with him was confusing to say the least. It was awkward because it had been so long since they were together. It was nice because she had a good time with him. It was vindicating because he finally acknowledged that he was an idiot for accusing her of being the kind who would cheat just because her father did. And it was just strange because she found out she lived one flight down from him this whole time.

How they had never run into each other in the lobby of the building was beyond her. Statistically they should have encountered each other sooner. But they didn't and it was weird. The whole situation was weird. This whole time, while she had been trying to avoid him, he had been living right above her. She doubted things could get any stranger than that.

He kept trying to talk to her about the way her life had been going since they broke up. She understood why he was asking. It wasn't an unreasonable request to try and catch each other up on the events of their lives since high school. But she found that she couldn't bring herself to tell him anything about her past.

She knew it frustrated him and felt bad about it. But there was no way she was going to spill anything about her past until she knew what they were. Right now their boundaries were too blurry. They were partners on this case and now neighbors. They weren't really friends. They were exes from two competing law firms who had to work together temporarily. Sharing her past with him would only complicate things and that was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

Sure, there was a large part of her that wanted to know everything that had happened in his life since they broke up. There were countless times that she thought about him and wondered how he was doing. And finding out some things from Marcus a few years ago only fueled her curiosity about his life. But that doesn't mean anything and certainly doesn't mean she should act on it.

At least that's what she kept telling herself.

She took a deep breath, banished the thoughts of Harvey from her mind and went back to work on the deposition. She had just typed a sentence when she looked up and saw Katrina in her doorway.

"I thought maybe you might need a cup of coffee, just like me." Katrina said, entering the office and handing her a coffee.

"You are a blessing." She gushed. "How did you know?"

"Just a wild guess." Katrina laughed, sitting across from her desk. "I know what my problem is today…it's the Jeffries case. What's your problem?"

She looked at her friend and sighed. Katrina was the closest female friend she had in this city, but even she didn't know about her past with Harvey Specter and she wasn't sure she wanted to let her friend know everything about it yet.

"Who says I have a problem?" She chuckled nervously.

"You can't fool me that easily."

It was obvious that Katrina wasn't going to let it go so she decided to be honest and share a few tidbits. "I have to work a class action case with Harvey Specter."

She immediately saw Katrina flinch. For some reason her friend wasn't too fond of Harvey. She never pushed too deeply about it. All she knew was that Harvey had hired her at Pearson Specter Litt but she somehow ended up working with Louis Litt instead until she was forced to resign. She didn't know the whole story but she knew that there were some lingering hard feelings about it.

"I'm sorry you have to work with him."

"It's fine." She shook her head.

"Really? It doesn't seem fine." Katrina noted.

"It will be." She assured her friend. "I'm just tired and you know how much I don't like class action suits."

"Yeah." Katrina stood up. "Well I guess I should get back to the Jeffries case."

"Thanks for the coffee." She smiled.

"Anytime."

Victoria stared at her screen and then looked around her office. A chance encounter five years ago set off the domino effect that led to her being here today.

" _Thank you for filling in on such short notice to this conference." Dean said with a smile as they walked into the first lecture on their schedule._

 _Steve was supposed to come with Dean and represent the firm at this law conference in Colorado this weekend. But he came down with the flu so he couldn't make it. She was actually volunteered to go from the managing partner, Cynthia. So her previous plans of curling up on the couch with a bottle of wine and a good book were dashed._

 _She was now in Colorado for the law conference with Dean. He was a nice enough guy and they got along well, but she didn't know enough about him to form a complete impression about him. Their interaction had been limited to random hellos in the hallway._

 _Now they were going to be stuck together for the weekend. She decided to make the best of it. "It's fine. I don't mind going to law conferences."_

 _That part was true. She actually kind of liked getting to meet other lawyers and trade stories or tricks. She was aware that most lawyers hated conferences and avoided them because they believed them to be a waste of time. But she was alright with being the exception to the rule._

 _She looked at the schedule and saw that the speaker was Robert Zane. That name was familiar to her and it only took her a moment to remember why. She had read his law review paper and it had practically changed her life because it changed the way she approached criminal cases._

 _Since he was going to be the speaker, she knew this would be a good session._

 _After the session, she turned to Dean. "I want to go meet him. Do you want to come with me?"_

" _Sure. Why not?" Dean shrugged._

 _She got up and made her way over to Robert Zane. The person he had been talking to was leaving so she took that as her chance. "Mr. Zane. Hi. My name is Victoria Sullivan. It's an honor to meet you."_

" _Hello Ms. Sullivan." Robert greeted with a smile and a handshake. "Did you enjoy the lecture?"_

" _Very much." She nodded._

" _Do you have any questions about it I could answer?"_

" _Not really." She shook her head. "I actually just wanted to come over and tell you that I've read your law review journal about criminal law about a dozen times. It has completely changed the way I approach criminal cases."_

" _Really?" He laughed. "I don't think many people have read that. I certainly don't get many people telling me they have read it."_

" _I not only have read it, but I live by it in court." She gushed._

" _I'm glad that it spoke to you." He smiled, then looked at his watch. "I'm sorry. But you'll have to excuse me. I have to be on the other side of the convention center in two minutes."_

" _Of course." She nodded. "It was very nice to meet you."_

" _You two, Ms. Sullivan." He nodded before leaving._

 _She looked over at Dean, who was looking at her funny. "What?"_

" _I've just never seen anyone fan-girl over another lawyer like that before." He laughed._

" _I wasn't fan-girling!" She protested, playfully hitting Dean on the shoulder. "I just really respect his work." She stopped to think about the encounter and groaned. "Oh no. I was fan-girling!"_

" _It's ok." Dean laughed. "I'm sure he hasn't had anyone fan-girl over him in a while. You probably made his day."_

" _Maybe I should just go back to the hotel and throw the blankets over my head for the rest of the weekend."_

" _You can't do that. If you do, then you'll make me have to sit through International Law and You: How to Navigate Your Way Through. This guy made the title of his session rhyme. You can't leave me alone to suffer through it. You wouldn't be that cruel, would you?" He asked._

 _She looked at his face and saw that he was trying to look as pathetic as possible. Her face broke out into a smile and before she knew what she was doing she linked her arm in with his. "No. I'm not that cruel. Let's go."_

" _No, c'mon it wasn't that bad!" She laughed with Dean as they stood outside the convention center waiting for a cab to take them back to the hotel later that day. She was surprised by the fact that she had fun with Dean. He was a nice guy and had a great sense of humor._

" _It was that bad." He argued with a smile on his face. "The whole time I was trying to think of what crime I could commit. I thought getting arrested would be better than sitting through another minute of the lecture."_

 _She laughed until she saw Robert Zane exiting the convention center. "Oh no."_

 _Dean turned around and then laughed. "Are you going to go full fan-girl again? Because please let me know in advance so I can record it on my phone."_

" _No." She playfully slapped his arm. "But he is headed this way so be cool."_

" _I don't think I'm the one you need to tell that to." He pointed out._

" _Maybe I was talking to myself." She grinned at him._

" _Ms. Sullivan?" Robert greeted._

" _Hello Mr. Zane." She greeted back._

" _I was wondering if you were interested in having dinner with me. You intrigued me by saying you live by my work in court." Robert suggested. "Your friend can join us too if he would like."_

 _She looked over at Dean who shrugged. "Oh, well alright. That would be nice."_

" _Wonderful." Robert smiled, handing her a card. "I have reservations here at 6:30 tonight. I'll see you then."_

 _She watched as he walked away towards a waiting town car. Once the car was out of sight, she turned to Dean. "What the frick just happened?"_

" _I think your idol wants to have dinner with you." Dean explained, grabbing the next cab that came by and holding the door open for her._

* * *

That night was the catalyst for her ending up in New York. It was the night she started dating Dean. It was also the night she made a lasting impression on Robert, one that resulted in a mentorship and eventually a friendship. And that friendship led to him offering her a senior partner position when it was time to leave Chicago.

"Donna, where is the…"

"White file?" Donna asked, entering the office with the file and handing it to him.

"Thank you." He nodded, assuming she would leave his office. But she just stood there. "Can I help you with something?"

"Last night you left here with a big old grin on your face. This morning you looked like someone had kicked your dog. What happened?"

"I don't have a dog." He pointed out.

"That's irrelevant to my point." She shrugged. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"Oh." She nodded. "I get it. Nothing happened between you and the lawyer from Robert's firm and that's why you are down today. Did you strike out with her?"

"Donna…"

"You did strike out." She stared at his face. "How did you strike out with her?"

"It's a long story, but I wasn't trying to sleep with her last night." He truly wasn't trying to sleep with her. He just wanted to be around her and get to know her again.

He knew that he was horrible to her when he broke up with her. He wasn't even sure if she could forgive him for being so cruel because most of the time he didn't forgive himself. Although at the time he was still struggling with the secret about his mom's cheating, it was still no excuse for accusing Victoria of potentially cheating on him if they did a long distance relationship simply because her own father was a cheater.

It wasn't fair to her to project his own fears and experiences on to her. But he didn't know how to explain that.

He could understand to a certain extent why she wanted to keep her distance from him. But it wasn't going to keep him from continuing to try and break down her walls.

He wasn't a very religious man and he had never been the type to believe in fate or destiny. He always believed that everyone is in charge of their own life and their own destiny. But he had to admit that finding Victoria in New York City and realizing that she lived one flight down from him this whole time…it seemed like the universe was trying to tell him something.

After spending time with her last night at dinner, he was convinced the universe was telling him that he needed to find a way back into her life.

"Who is she to you?" Donna chuckled. "You have never once mentioned her to me, which is strange because I thought we told each other everything."

"We usually do." He conceded. "You're my best friend, Donna. But this…Victoria…she's someone I haven't spoken about to anyone."

"Alright." She nodded. "I'm sure when you are ready, you'll let me know."

"Thank you." He called after her as she left his office.


	7. Chapter 7

One Flight Down

Chapter Seven

Two days later, Victoria was in the elevator of Pearson, Specter Litt going up to Harvey's floor. She thought back to the phone call she made yesterday.

 _Victoria sat in her office, staring at the class action files. She had put off calling Harvey long enough. Taking a deep breath, she dialed his number._

" _Harvey Specter's office."_

" _Hello. Is Harvey available?" She asked who she assumed was Harvey's secretary._

" _He is in a meeting right now. Can I take a message?"_

" _Yes. Just tell him that Victoria Sullivan called please." She wasn't upset that Harvey was in a meeting. It was fine if he called her back later. "He should have the phone number."_

" _Oh, wait a minute. I think he is done with his meeting now." The secretary said hurriedly. "I'll connect you."_

" _It's ok…" She was going to tell his secretary that Harvey could just call her back but she was on hold. It was slightly suspicious that she was told he was unavailable until she mentioned her name. It was almost like he had a list of people who he would take calls from and she was one it. But she shrugged that paranoia off. It was entirely possible that his meeting just ended right now._

" _Hello, Vic?"_

 _She heard Harvey's rich voice call her by her nickname and took a deep breath. "Hey Harvey."_

" _I'm glad you called. How are you doing?"_

" _I'm fine." She wasn't sure why he didn't just skip the pleasantries, but would play along. "How are you?"_

" _I'm good."_

" _So I think I have found the perfect medical expert for the case. His name is Dr. Jonathon Carter. I can email you his information if you want to check him out for yourself."_

" _If you think he is the right person, I'm sure he will be fine." Harvey told her. "I trust you."_

 _Her brow furrowed at his words. He trusted her? Since when? He was being way too nice to her and she didn't know what to do with it. "Ok. Well I will still email you his information."_

" _Ok. Thanks."_

" _I was trying to set up a meeting with us and him. Before I set it, I wondered if you were available at all tomorrow or the next day."_

" _Let me check real quick."_

 _It didn't take him long to check his schedule._

" _I can be free all day tomorrow, but the day after that I have a deposition in the morning and then meetings all afternoon." He explained._

" _Alright. I'll try to set up the meeting with the doctor for tomorrow."_

" _Would you mind if we have the meeting here at my office?" He questioned._

" _No, that would be fine." Honestly it didn't make any difference to her whose firm hosted the meeting. If he wanted her to come to his firm, then that's where she would go._

" _Great. Do you have my cell phone number?"_

" _I believe I do." She answered._

" _Then you can either call me or text me when you find out what time the doctor can meet." He told her._

" _Sounds good." She said. "I should get going though."_

" _I'll see you tomorrow."_

" _Yeah. Bye Harvey." She didn't even wait for him to say goodbye before she hung up the phone._

The elevator dinged open and she realized it was the 50th floor so she exited before the doors shut on her. She turned to the right to look at the Pearson Specter Litt sign on the wall again for a second before turning to find Harvey's office. But then she ran into a familiar person.

"Ms. Sullivan." Jessica smiled. "It's nice to see you again."

"It's nice to see you again as well." Victoria smiled back. Jessica had come by the firm several times in the past couple of years and so they had met before. Jessica had always been nice to her and she could see why Robert was so fond of the woman.

"Are you here for a meeting about the class action?" Jessica asked.

"Yes." She nodded. "I found a medical expert. Harvey and I are going to be filling him in on the specifics of the case and what we need from him."

"Wonderful." Jessica nodded. "Sounds like you and Harvey are working well together and making great progress."

"Of course. Is there a reason why we wouldn't be?" She laughed nervously. As far as she knew, no one was aware of her previous relationship with Harvey. But based upon the look Jessica was giving her right now, it was possible Harvey was telling people.

"No." Jessica shook her head. "I'm just glad to see you two working well together. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment."

"Of course." She stepped out of the way. "It was nice to see you again."

"You too." Jessica said. "And if you are wondering where Harvey's office is, go to the left and follow the hallway around the turn."

"Thank you." She wasn't sure how Jessica knew that was the question in her mind. But she wasn't going to complain. She followed the hallway like Jessica suggested and finally found Harvey's office. But it didn't look like he was in it.

"Can I help you?"

She turned around to see who said that, finding herself face to face with the woman who had answered Harvey's phone. It must be his secretary. "Oh I was looking for Harvey."

"I recognize your voice. You're Victoria, right?"

"That's right." She nodded.

"I'm Donna."

The woman held out her hand to shake. "Nice to meet you. Harvey and I have a meeting soon. Do you know where he is?"

"He should be back any minute." Donna answered. "So you work with Robert?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"And you like your firm?"

"It's alright." She shrugged. "Why?"

"Just curious." Donna shrugged. "How do you know Harvey?"

She chuckled. "That's a long story that I don't tell people I just met. But the short answer is I don't really know Harvey…not anymore. And he doesn't really know me either."

"Vic, I'm sorry." Harvey apologized as he approached them. "Did I keep you waiting for long?"

"No." She shook her head. "I just got here. I came in a little early so we could prepare before Dr. Carter gets here. I hope that's alright."

"That's perfectly alright." He smiled, leading her towards his office.

She walked in to his office and slyly took note of the décor. She shouldn't have been surprised that he had a whole wall of records. He was the only teenager she knew that collected them the way kids collected baseball cards. She refocused her attention on Harvey and placed her bag on the couch.

"So how much did you prepare Dr. Carter about the case?" Harvey asked.

"I kept it rather vague. I thought you would want to be there to chime in with anything you think I missed." She explained.

"I appreciate that, but I trust you not to leave anything out."

Trust. There was that word again. He trusted her. If it wasn't so maddening she would think it was funny the way he was throwing that word around about her. He didn't trust her when she needed him to the most. So why was he trying so hard to prove to her that he trusted her now? On top of that, he didn't even really know her any more than she knew him.

Years have gone by since they last spoke. She was painfully aware of the ways she had changed during that time and she knew that he had to have changed as well. It was a fact of life that people change as time goes on.

The pleasantries, the assurances of trusting her, the kind smiles…he was working hard to ingratiate himself into her good graces again. At first she didn't understand why. But now she was beginning to see it…the all-too familiar look was back in his eye.

It wasn't just that he felt guilty about how they broke up so many years ago. He still had feelings for her…or at least the her he thought she was. But she wasn't the same girl he fell for back then. She was older, wiser, more jaded and more cautious. Her experiences since high school had shaped her into someone drastically different than the girl Harvey dated.

And she was certain that Harvey's experiences had shaped him into a different person as well. They weren't the same carefree teenagers that thought they could get everything they wanted out of life without any obstacles appearing in their way.

She wasn't lying when she told his secretary that she didn't know Harvey anymore. As much as it pained her to admit, their time together was over. He just didn't seem to see it the same way she did.

It seemed like this class action suit was going to be difficult to get through with him.

"How long do you think it will take him to go through all of the data and compile his report?" Harvey asked.

"A couple of weeks maybe?" She guessed. "Why?"

"I'm just wondering when we should set up a meeting with Williams Synthesis to let them know that they are going to lose this case and have to pay a ton of money." He smiled.

"I think we are at least a couple of weeks away from that." She cautioned.

"But it will happen with the two of us working this lawsuit." He told her. "We're unstoppable."

"Sorry to interrupt, but Dr. Carter is here." Donna said as she stood in the doorway. "I put him in the conference room."

"Thank you Donna." Harvey said. "Shall we?"

"Of course." She picked up her briefcase and headed out, following Harvey because she wasn't sure which way the conference room was from Harvey's office.

* * *

Harvey was sitting in his office that evening, typing up some documents when his cell phone went off. Seeing it was Marcus, he answered. "Hey Marcus. What's up?"

"Not much." Marcus replied, starting to laugh. "What's up with you, loser?"

"Oh you know, just sitting in my office at the firm that has my name on it." He teased.

"You're not that special, big brother. I have my own restaurant. Or did you forget about that because you haven't been to Boston in almost a year?" Marcus chuckled.

"A restaurant isn't the same thing as a law firm, but I'll let you have your moment." Harvey said, glad to be joking around with his brother. "So what's the reason for this surprise call?"

"I am going to be in the city Monday night. I was hoping you would want to have dinner with me."

"Is it just you or are Katie and the kids coming too? Because I want to see them more than I want to see you." He couldn't help but use the opportunity to tease his brother.

"It's just me this time." Marcus said.

"Dinner Monday sounds good." He said. "Are you staying overnight?"

"Yes."

"Then you are staying with me in the guest room and I won't take no for an answer."

Marcus laughed. "Ok then. I won't pass up the chance for a free place to stay."

"Oh it isn't free." He laughed. "You have to pay for dinner."

"Fair enough."

"I'll let my doorman you are coming and he'll let you in."

"How about I make dinner reservations for 7? Is that a good time for you?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah. I'll be back home by 6 so I can change. 7 would be fine."

"Cool. I'll see you on Monday then."

"Sounds good." He said before hanging up.


	8. Chapter 8

One Flight Down

Chapter Eight

"So what is new with you?" Marcus asked Harvey on Monday.

He had left the office later than he planned so he didn't have much time to change clothes before they needed to leave for dinner. At the moment they were in the elevator heading to the lobby.

"Same old stuff." He answered. Then he decided to be a little vulnerable and let Marcus in. After all, for the past year and a half he had been trying to get his relationship with his brother back on track. It wasn't right that he alienated and practically ignored Marcus when it was their mother he was shunning.

He turned to look at his brother as the elevator reached the lobby. "Actually…you will never guess who lives one flight down from me."

"Victoria?" Marcus guessed.

"Yeah. How did you…"

"Marcus! It's so good to see you!"

He recognized the voice and turned to see Victoria waiting for the elevator. He watched as she gave Marcus a hug and started chatting with him, while completely ignoring him. That wasn't the same kind of greeting he got from her when they first saw each other and he couldn't help but be a little jealous that she seemed happier to see his brother.

"How are you?" She asked with a huge smile on her face.

"I'm great. How are you?" Marcus asked.

"I'm good." She nodded.

"So you really live here too?" Marcus asked.

"She does." Harvey interjected. "She lives one flight down from me. Isn't that funny?"

"It is." Marcus nodded, looking at Harvey and then turning his attention back to Victoria. "I didn't realize you had moved to New York."

"Yeah I moved here about two years ago." She explained.

"What about your fiancé? Or is he your husband by now?"

"Oh…we actually aren't together anymore." She said, the smile fading quickly.

Harvey was shocked to learn that Victoria had been engaged. But it shouldn't have surprised him. She was a catch and some lucky guy should have scooped her up by now. What truly surprised him was that Marcus knew about her being engaged. He would have to question Marcus about that later.

Right now he was watching Victoria's face. The face she made when talking about her failed engagement told him everything he needed to know. It was a sore subject and it caused her a lot of pain. It made him wonder what happened. He doubted she would tell him though.

"I'm so sorry." Marcus shook his head. "I shouldn't have said anything. Now I feel terrible."

"It's ok." She assured him. "You didn't know. Besides, it's in the past."

"Well we were just leaving to go to dinner. Now you have to come to dinner with us." Marcus insisted. "I need to buy you dinner to make up for my stupidity."

"No, it's fine." She politely refused. "I don't want to intrude on your dinner."

"You wouldn't be intruding at all. Harvey, help me out here. You want her to come to dinner too, right?" Marcus asked, looking over at him.

"Of course I do." He looked over at Victoria. "Come with us to dinner. Please?"

"I'm not dressed for dinner." She objected. "I'm still dressed for work."

"You look great." He told her.

"I was going to go to a yoga class tonight."

"This will be more fun." Marcus chimed in.

"I…"

"You've run out of excuses, haven't you?" Harvey chuckled.

"I guess I have." She shrugged. "Ok. I'll come to dinner with you two."

"Wonderful!" Marcus clapped his hands. "Now let's get going. I'm starving."

* * *

Victoria looked out the window of Harvey's car as Ray drove them all to the restaurant. She was sitting in the back seat with Harvey. He had made Marcus sit in the front seat next to Ray, probably so that he could keep looking over and staring at her.

All she had wanted to do tonight was go home, change to go to her yoga class, come back and eat take-out food. Now she found her plans derailed and she was on her way to dinner with the Specter boys. She was thrilled to see Marcus again. She had enjoyed catching up with him three years ago at his restaurant. It was dinner with Harvey that worried her. She didn't want to give him the wrong impression about their relationship.

When they arrived at the restaurant, she got out of the car and waited for the guys to get out as well. Within moments they were being taken to their table. Harvey pulled out her chair for her and she gave him a small smile as thanks. This was going to be a long night. She definitely needed a glass of wine.

* * *

The first part of dinner had been going well. They reminisced about some of the good times they shared. Marcus was quick to then bring up stories that allowed them to poke fun at Harvey, which was always a good time—at least for her and Marcus. She had to give credit to Harvey though. He was being a good sport about getting picked on so mercilessly.

"So what brings you to New York City?" Victoria asked Marcus about halfway through dinner.

"I actually came to scout out some possible locations for another restaurant." Marcus announced.

Harvey turned to her. "Marcus has a restaurant in Boston back in Boston."

She nodded. "I know."

She saw the questioning look on Harvey's face but noticed he wasn't asking how she knew that.

"You're doing well enough to expand the business?" Harvey asked, turning back to Marcus.

"Yeah, bro." Marcus chuckled. "Don't look so surprised. The restaurant is doing amazing."

"I'm not surprised the restaurant is doing well. But why not expand to another location in Boston?" Harvey questioned. "Why expand in a city hours away?"

"Because I have a potential investor who will only invest if the restaurant is located here." Marcus explained.

"Why are you looking for investors at all?" Harvey asked. "If the restaurant is doing as well as you say, then you should be able to expand without needing anyone's money."

"I don't need the money, Harvey." Marcus sighed. "I just don't see a reason to turn down a good investor opportunity."

"Have you looked into this investor? I mean really looked into them?" Harvey asked. "Have you made sure he or she is legit and a good fit for you?"

"Of course I have." Marcus sighed. "I've looked into them and they are legit."

"But how do you know you can trust them?" Harvey asked.

"Because unlike you I can actually trust other people." Marcus scoffed.

She could tell that things were starting to get heated between the two men. The last thing she wanted was to see them fight. So she decided to try and change the conversation.

"Marcus, how are Katie and the kids doing?" She thought that maybe changing the conversation to his family would defuse the situation.

"They are doing very well, thank you for asking." Marcus smiled.

"Alright." Harvey scoffed. "That's another thing. How do you two know so much about each other's lives?"

She looked over at Marcus and then at Harvey.

"Because for some reason you won't tell me a goddamn thing about your life. But my brother somehow knows more about your life than I do." Harvey said to her. "Tell me, how exactly does that happen?"

"I was in Boston a couple of years ago and I ran into him at his restaurant. So we talked for a few minutes. It wasn't a big deal." She explained as calmly as she could. But she could tell that Harvey was getting upset. It was only a matter of time before he blew up. The only question in her mind was which one of them he would blow up at…her or Marcus.

"So you will talk to him and tell him about your past but you refuse to tell me anything about what's happened since high school?" Harvey scoffed. "How is that fair at all?"

"Fair?" She laughed. "What is this, kindergarten? Life isn't fair Harvey."

"I know that. But why are you so willing to talk to Marcus and not me?"

"You truly don't get it." She rolled her eyes.

"No. I guess I don't." Harvey sighed. "It doesn't make any sense to me. If you can talk to Marcus, you should be able to talk to me."

"You know what Marcus? I'm sorry. Coming to dinner with you guys was obviously a mistake." She stood up. "Thank you for dinner but I think I should be going now. It was great to see you again. Good luck with the restaurant expansion."

"Bye Victoria." Marcus smiled at her.

She didn't even look at Harvey before leaving the restaurant.

"What the hell, man?" Marcus punched Harvey in the shoulder after Victoria was out of the restaurant.

"What do you mean?" He asked, playing dumb.

"You really bungled that." He laughed.

"Don't remind me."

"What is going on between you two?"

"Apparently nothing." He sulked. "We are working a case together. I thought that working the case with her would help things. But the case is the only thing she wants to talk about. I can't get her to open up to me."

"Can you really blame her though?" Marcus chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You really hurt her." Marcus pointed out. "I'm not surprised she is acting distant towards you. Obviously she is still hurt and hasn't forgiven you completely."

"I've apologized." He explained. "And what are you? Her best friend now?"

"No." Marcus laughed. "You know you really should try to contain your frustrations about this or it's going to make everything worse. You know she left tonight because of you, right?"

"I know." He sighed. "I shouldn't have gone off on her. Or you either for that matter. How you expand your business and who you do it with are your business. I just don't want to see you make the wrong decision."

"I appreciate that." Marcus smiled. "But it's my life and if I make the wrong decisions, I'll deal with the consequences."

"I know." He nodded.

"But back to Victoria…" Marcus sighed. "You're going about this the wrong way."

He groaned. "Am I actually about to take advice about women from you?"

"I'll have you know that there are worse people to take advice about woman from. After all, I am the only one of us in a committed and loving relationship." Marcus pointed out.

"Only because Katie is somehow blinded by some kind of love for you." He teased.

"Either way…I got my dream girl while you are striking out with yours big time." Marcus teased back.

"Hey, how did you know that I still have feelings for her?"

"That's easy. You've always had feelings for her." Marcus laughed. "After you broke up with her you sulked around for months and kept playing your guys' song on repeat. And all I had to do was take one look at your face when you saw her earlier tonight to know you still care about her. So do you want some advice or not?"

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but ok."

"You need to realize just how badly you hurt her. Apologizing isn't enough." Marcus pointed out.

"How do you know how much I hurt her?"

Marcus sighed. "I wasn't going to tell you this, but maybe I should. After you guys broke up and before she left town, she came by the house to say goodbye to us."

"Really?" He was surprised to hear that.

"Yeah. She ended up sitting in the living room crying with mom for about twenty minutes." Marcus nodded. "I wasn't supposed to eavesdrop but I couldn't help it. She was so upset. I'll never forget the look on her face. She really loved you."

"I really loved her too." He admitted. "Do you think I have any chance with her at all?"

"I really don't know." Marcus shrugged. "But what I do know is you have no chance at all if you continue to act the way you did tonight. If she isn't ready to talk to you about things, then don't push it."

"You have a point there." He conceded.


	9. Chapter 9

One Flight Down

Chapter Nine

Victoria sighed as she curled up on her couch. She pulled the blanket up over her legs and took a sip of her wine. After grabbing a taxi, she headed straight home and changed into her pajamas. It was nice to see Marcus again, and to again see that he had turned from a mischievous middle schooler to a responsible businessman and family man.

But having dinner with Harvey was a mistake. He got too upset about her talking to Marcus. While she could see how it was frustrating, she wasn't sure what he expected from her. Why should she let him into her life again? The last time she did, he almost destroyed her.

 _The day after Harvey broke up with her, she hid behind a bush. She saw him leave his house and the bush was the closest thing to hide behind. He was running late for his normal Saturday morning gym session and she expected him to be gone by this time. But at least she saw him in time to hide. The last thing she needed was to run into him. Once he was in his car and turned the corner, she stepped out from her hiding place and continued on to his house._

 _She rang the doorbell and waited nervously. His mom answered the door and smiled at her._

" _Victoria! You actually just missed Harvey. He went to the gym to work out."_

" _I know." She nodded. "I actually came to talk to you."_

" _Oh. Ok."_

 _She could tell that she had caught the woman off-guard._

" _Well in that case, come on in." Lily stepped aside for her to come in._

 _She stood in the entryway and looked at Lily. "Can I get you anything?"_

" _No." She shook her head. "Thanks, but I won't be here that long. I just came to say goodbye."_

" _Goodbye?" Lily laughed. "What do you mean?"_

" _I'm moving to Arizona on Monday. And since Harvey broke up with me last night, I doubt I'll see you again." She explained, trying her best not to cry. She had been up all night, replaying the conversation with Harvey over and over in her head. There was clearly something else bothering him, but he didn't want to talk to her about it. So if he wanted them to be over, she would let them be over. But she didn't have to like it._

" _I'm sorry…that's a lot to take in at once. Why are you moving?" Lily asked, leading her to the living room._

" _Who's moving?" Marcus asked._

 _She looked over and saw that Marcus was on the couch watching television. "Hey Marcus. I'm moving to Arizona."_

" _That sucks." He sighed. "I'm sorry."_

" _It's ok." She shrugged._

" _And Harvey broke up with her." Lily said softly._

" _He's a Goddamn idiot." Marcus told her, rolling her eyes._

" _Marcus…first of all watch your language or you're grounded." Lily scolded._

" _Sorry." He apologized._

" _Secondly, can you please give us some privacy please?" Lily asked._

" _Sure." He got up from the couch and went over to give her a hug. "But trust me…he is an idiot."_

 _She couldn't help but chuckle. "I think you might be right about that."_

" _Bye Victoria."_

" _Bye Marcus." She watched Marcus leave the room before turning her attention back to Lily._

" _Please, sit." Lily pointed to the couch and sat down._

 _She sat down next to Lily. "I just really wanted to say goodbye and thank you before I simply disappeared. You guys have all been so wonderful to me and treated me like one of your own for the past couple of years. It didn't seem right not to say goodbye."_

" _Oh course we've treated you like one of our own. We all love you." Lily smiled. "But why are you moving?"_

" _My parents are getting divorced." She started to cry. "And my dad won't let me stay with him here so I have to leave with my mom."_

" _I'm so sorry."_

" _It's fine." She shrugged, trying to stop crying._

" _Why did Harvey break up with you though?"_

" _He said he doesn't want to have a long distance relationship, but I think it's just because he doesn't want me anymore." She couldn't contain it anymore and started to sob._

" _Victoria, I doubt that is true."_

 _She felt Lily's arms wrap around her._

" _I'm sorry dear."_

" _I'll be ok."_

" _We will certainly miss having you around here." Lily told her._

There was a knock on her door and she sighed. Somehow she knew who was on the other side without even getting up. Against her better judgement she got up and opened the door.

"Harvey. I'd say what a surprise but that would be lying." She sighed.

"Can I come in for a moment?" He asked.

"Fine." She moved aside so he could come in. She watched him go straight to the middle of the living room. He looked around and then turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I wasn't fair to you at dinner and it was wrong of me to get so upset with you."

"You acted like I had no right to talk to your brother." She pointed out.

"I know. It wasn't right for me to do that." He acknowledged. "You have every right to talk to my brother. I shouldn't be mad at you for that."

It was a nice gesture that he came here to apologize. When she first opened the door she thought that he was going to demand that she start talking to him like she did to Marcus. So it was refreshing that he wasn't doing that.

She sighed. "Do you know why I find it easier to talk to Marcus than to talk to you?"

"Because I was a complete jerk to you and you hate me?" He guessed.

She laughed. "Yeah, you were a complete jerk to me. I don't hate you though. But the real reason is I never had feelings for Marcus. My relationship with him has always been crystal clear. He has always been your brother and I have always considered him a friend. That never changed. That line never blurred. I have always known where I stand with him. With you…well I can't say the same thing."

She let that sink in for a moment as she walked over to the window. "With you, we were…we were friends…then we were lovers. We were together and planning for a future. Then we suddenly weren't and you were just gone completely from my life. And now here we are. We're thrown together on this case and the lines are completely blurred. We're colleagues, but we aren't at the same firm so after this case is over we go back to being adversaries again. We aren't together and we aren't friends. But we have this past that makes it feel impossible to just be colleagues..."

She didn't get to finish her statement because the next thing she knew Harvey was standing right next to her. He brought his hand up to caress her cheek before gently pressing his lips against hers.

At first she was caught off guard. Instinctively she closed her eyes and leaned in. Even as a teenager he had been a good kisser. Now though, he was amazing. By the time he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer she shook off the intoxication of being in his embrace and kissing him again.

She pulled away from him and put a few steps of distance between them. "What are you doing?" She whispered.

"I was trying to make the lines less blurry." He told her.

"You just made them blurrier."

"Correct me if I am wrong, but you seemed into our kiss." He pointed out.

He wasn't wrong. She was into the kiss. But she wasn't about to admit that. "You caught me off guard. That's all."

"Sure." He nodded.

"Harvey…"

"Ok I admit that the lines between us are a little blurry." He conceded. "So let's make them less blurry."

"And how do you suggest we do that?"

He was silent for a moment and turned to stare out the window.

"Well kissing you apparently only makes the lines blurrier. So maybe we could try being friends." He finally spoke up. "We were friends before we started dating. We could go back to the way things were in the beginning."

She looked over at him while he was still staring out the window. She knew that wasn't what he truly wanted. She saw the truth every time she looked him in the eyes. She felt the passion he laid out in that kiss. But he was here and trying to do what he thought she wanted. That had to mean something.

She wasn't trying to be mean to him by not letting him into her life. And it wasn't like she didn't want him to be in her life. Despite trying everything in her power to stop, she still had feelings for him. There was a part of her that wanted to grab him, kiss him again and never let go. But she stopped that part of herself. Too much had happened in their lives to rekindle their past relationship. Right?

The safest thing to do would be to work the remainder of this case with him and then go back to avoiding him. But maybe she was tired of doing the safe thing. She kept telling herself that there was no way they could ever be in a relationship again because they were different people than before. Maybe being friends was a good first step to even seeing if they were compatible in any way. They could learn about each other again.

"What do you say?" He asked, looking over at her. "Friends?"

"Ok." She nodded. "Let's be friends."

"Great." He grinned.

"Just as long as you know that friends don't kiss each other like that." She wanted to make that point.

"Point taken." He nodded. "I should let you get back to your night, or what's left of it. Goodnight Vic."

"Goodnight Harvey."

* * *

Harvey entered his place and saw Marcus waiting for him near the drink cart with two glasses in his hands.

"Here you go." Marcus said, giving him the one filled up higher.

"How did you know I'd need that?" He laughed.

"Just a hunch." Marcus shrugged. "How did it go with Victoria?"

"I kissed her." He admitted.

"Bold move." Marcus laughed. "Then what happened? Did she slap you?"

"No." He shook his head. "She didn't slap me. We agreed to be friends from now on."

"That's a bummer."

"Not really." He smirked.

"You got shot down, bro." Marcus informed him before taking a drink.

"Yeah." He nodded. "But that kiss told me one very important piece of information."

"Which is?"

"She still has feelings for me." He informed his brother. "And I believe friendship is the key to getting her back."

"So you're playing the long game?"

"I absolutely am." He took a drink and thought back to that kiss. He could see it in her eyes after they pulled away. She still had feelings for him and was conflicted. He wasn't sure of the reason—maybe it was the way he ended things that spooked her. Maybe it was the fact that so much time had passed. Maybe it was something in her past. But something was preventing her from letting go and giving him another chance.

And he was determined to figure out what it was. If they had to stay friends for a while, then they would stay friends. But eventually he would win her over again.


	10. Chapter 10

One Flight Down

Chapter Ten

The next day

"So you wanted to see me, boss?" Victoria smiled as she walked right into Robert's office and sat down.

"Yes." He nodded. "As you know, Laura and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary this weekend."

She smiled. "I do know and I have the perfect dress for your anniversary party on Thursday."

He laughed. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"Of course." She nodded. "What do you need?"

"I'm surprising Laura with a long weekend getaway." He explained. "Do you think you can cover my schedule on Friday and then also the weekend if anything emergent pops up?"

"I'd love to." She smiled. The fact that he trusted her do watch over his cases while he was gone always made her feel proud. She loved the fact that she was the one he turned to in the office, not because she was egotistical or anything though. She just respected Robert and to have him place that kind of responsibility on her was validating.

He was the first boss she had that actually seemed to care about her as a human being and treat her accordingly. She also always knew where she stood with him, which was important to her.

"Wonderful." He grinned. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Is there anything else?"

"How is the class action coming along?" He questioned.

"It's good. We are at a standstill right now because we are waiting for the medical expert to send us back his report on all of the claims. I have no doubt that he will agree that Williams Synthesis is responsible. Once we have that report though, we should be able to force a quick settlement. I don't think they will want this to drag out for years in court. Too much damaging information would come out." She explained.

"Good." He nodded. "I must say, you are making faster progress than I anticipated."

"Don't I always though?" She chuckled.

"So true." He nodded. "How do you like working with Harvey Specter?"

"It's alright." She shrugged. "He seems to know what he is talking about and is so far able to keep up with me. What more could a girl ask for?"

"Would you be willing to work with him more often?"

She watched Robert's face after he asked that question. She knew him well enough to know there was something he wasn't telling her. She also knew from the expression on his face that he wasn't about to share whatever was going on.

"I don't know." She answered honestly. "I guess so." Although she knew it was futile, she decided to ask anyway. "Is there a reason you are asking?"

"I was simply curious." He shrugged.

She didn't buy that, but wasn't about to call him out on it right now. She trusted him and knew he would tell her when the time was right. "Alright. I should get going. I have a meeting soon."

"Thanks again for agreeing to take over my workload later this week." He called after her.

"Anytime." She answered back. As she headed back to her office, she thought back to when she decided that she needed to get out of Chicago.

" _Thanks for meeting with me." She said as she sat down across from Robert._

" _Of course." He nodded, smiling sadly. "We donn't fly out until later today anyway. I ordered you some coffee. I hope you don't mind."_

" _Of course not. Thanks."_

" _I'm sorry about what happened." He told her._

" _It's fine." She shook it off because she didn't want to think about it right now. "It's for the best."_

 _She stopped talking for a moment because the waitress brought their coffees. It wasn't until the waitress was gone that she started to talk again. "I actually just wanted to know if you knew of any firms back in New York that were hiring."_

" _You want to leave Chicago."_

" _I want to leave Chicago and never look back." She clarified. "I thought maybe you could put in a good word with a firm for me, if you don't mind. Or at least steer me clear of firms I should avoid."_

" _I don't mind." He said, taking a sip of his coffee. "Ugh. This coffee is like sludge."_

" _A lot of the coffee here is." She chuckled in spite of herself. "It's something I've gotten used to."_

" _Well in New York we have much better coffee." He informed her. "You'll have to get used to that when you come work for me."_

 _She stared at him like he had lost his mind. "What?"_

" _You're coming to work for me." He repeated._

" _I…"_

" _You wanted to know if any firms were hiring." He laughed. "I'm hiring and today I'm hiring you."_

" _Robert, I didn't mean for you to hire me just because of what happened yesterday…"_

" _It's not a pity job." He assured her. "I've gotten to know you pretty well since we met at that conference and I know the type of lawyer you are. More importantly I know what type of person you are. I need a person like you at my firm. I need someone I can trust who can watch my back."_

" _Are you sure about this?" She asked. He was a good man. The last thing she wanted was for him to offer her the job because he felt bad for her._

" _I'm sure." He nodded, chuckling. "Besides, I don't want you joining some other firm and then having to go up against you in court. Knowing my luck you would end up at Pearson Specter Litt and then I'd have to worry about facing both you and Rachel in court."_

" _I don't think you would have to worry about that. I wouldn't join that firm."_

" _Oh right." He nodded. "Because you didn't go to Harvard and they only hire Harvard graduates. Still…I want you on my team. So what do you say? You want to be the newest senior partner at Rand, Kaldor and Zane?"_

" _I'd love to." She smiled genuinely for the first time since yesterday._

* * *

Harvey was waiting for the elevator so he could get to lunch. He looked over and saw Jessica suddenly standing next to him. "Well hello Jessica."

"Hello Harvey." She said, pushing the down button.

"I already pushed it." He told her. "The elevator is just being slow today."

"Wonderful." She chuckled. "So how is the class action going?"

"Great." He answered. "I think we should be able to push towards a settlement soon."

"I hope I don't have to remind you that would be extremely beneficial for us."

"I know." He nodded. The firm was still on shaky ground after the Mike debacle. Although they had gotten Mike out of trouble, their firm had taken a hit—a financial hit and a hit on their reputation. The public still perceived them as lawyers who cheated the system. There were still those who thought that Mike was fraud, even though he was found innocent.

He was a fraud. They weren't wrong about that. And they were lawyers that managed to cheat the system. They weren't wrong about that either.

Still, it had an effect on business. There were many partners and associates who left the firm. There were also many clients who took their business elsewhere. But they still needed to run the firm so they kept plugging away, trying to add more clients and bill more hours.

He felt guilty that his decision to hire Mike even though the man didn't have a law degree had caused so much drama and so many issues. It was a reckless decision. But if he could go back in time to that day, he still would have done the same thing.

Mike was meant to be a lawyer and meant to be at Pearson Specter Litt. He was meant to meet Rachel. The past several years without Mike around would have been quite different and less fulfilling without the man he considered to be another brother.

"So how is it working with Victoria?" Jessica asked as they both entered the elevator.

He looked over at Jessica. "It's fine."

"Just fine?" Jessica laughed. "Let me guess. She has rebuffed your advances?"

"Why are you so convinced that I want to sleep with her?" He chuckled. Jessica wasn't wrong. But he was curious about why that is where Jessica's mind went.

"Because I know you." Jessica smiled. "Answer me this though. Do you think you two could work together more often?"

"I'd like to think so." He told her, seeing the wheels in Jessica's head turn. "Why?"

"Just curious." She shrugged as the elevator opened on the lobby and she exited before him.

* * *

Victoria sat nervously at the diner. She had texted Harvey the address of this place this morning after agreeing to meet him for lunch. After all, that's what friends did. Right? Friends meet up for lunch all the time without it meaning anything. She decided not to overthink it. He saw him step into the diner and thought about waving to let him know where she was. Thankfully he looked around and saw her without her having to make a fool of herself.

"Hey." He smiled, sliding in to the booth across from her.

"Hi." She smiled back.

"Thanks for meeting me for lunch." He said.

"You're welcome."

"My name is Amy. I'll be your server today. What can I get you?"

She looked over at the waitress that came over and smiled. "I'll have the chicken bacon club and chip with an iced tea please."

"Alright." Amy looked over at Harvey. "And for you?"

"Turkey club with chips and water please." He ordered.

"I'll be back with your drinks." Amy said before leaving.

"So I can honestly say I've never been here before." He chuckled.

"The food is better than the décor." She promised. The diner wasn't much to look at. The booths and tables were worn. The decorations on the walls were outdated. But the food made this one of the best diners she had found in New York City.

"I'll take your word for it for the moment." He nodded.

"So…"

"So…"

"Where do we start?" She questioned.

"I'm not sure."

"Well if we are going to be friends then we need to be able to talk to each other." She pointed out. "And friends usually let each other know what's going on in their lives."

"Yes, that is true." He nodded.

"I guess I'll start." She interjected. "I found out today that Robert is surprising his wife with an impromptu trip right after their anniversary party on Thursday."

"I'm assuming you are going to that party?"

"Of course." She nodded. "Are you?"

"Yeah. I got invited." He nodded. "Which is weird because I didn't think Robert liked me too much."

"I think Laura was the one who invited you." She laughed. "I've heard her defend you a couple of times."

"That would certainly explain it." He chuckled. "Do you want to ride over there with me? We could go together as friends."

"I don't know…" It would be weird going to the party with him.

"They are always saying people should carpool more often. It would be easy for us to carpool since we live in the same building." He pointed out. "We could help save the environment."

She laughed. There was no denying that fact. "Alright. We can carpool together."

"Great." He smiled. "I'll pick you up at your door."

"We'll meet in the lobby." She corrected him. Having him come to her door to pick her up would make it feel too much like a date. Meeting in a neutral zone would hopefully make it feel less like a date.

"Lobby it is." He nodded. "So tell me something about the dark ages."

"The dark ages?" She questioned with a soft chuckle. "You mean the dark ages from European history?"

"No." He shook his head. "I mean the dark ages as in the time between when you moved to Arizona and the time we met up again now."

"Those are the dark ages?" She asked, looking at him strangely.

"They are to me because it was a travesty that you weren't in my life." He replied.

"Ok." She decided to go with it and not read too much into that statement. "So you just want any kind of tidbit from that time?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"I don't know." She chuckled. "You're kind of putting me on the spot here. I'm not sure what to talk about."

"I probably shouldn't put you on the spot like that." He apologized.

"It's ok." She shrugged. "I'm just not sure where to start."

"It's fine." He smiled. "We can talk about something else."

"How about this as a tidbit? I have a half-sister that I have only met twice."

"What?"

She watched as his eyes opened wide. "How is that possible?"

"After the divorce my dad started a new family and focused on that new family instead of me. So I've only met her twice." She explained.

"Wow." He was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine." She shrugged it off and smirked. "You wanted a tidbit. There's a tidbit."


	11. Chapter 11

One Flight Down

Chapter Eleven

Victoria nervously rode the elevator down to the lobby Thursday night. At the time it seemed like a fairly good idea to ride with Harvey to the party. After all, he was right about carpooling. Since they lived in the same building it seemed silly that they should both take separate cars.

But then as she was putting on the final touches to her makeup she realized that she would be in the car with him for over a half hour both ways since Robert lived outside of the city.

For that time, she would be trapped in a car with Harvey. There were of course worse things in the world. But it meant it would be hard for her not to talk to him. She had already spilled more about her life than she planned to when they had lunch earlier this week, while he had yet to tell her anything about his life.

There was something about him now that made her want to tell him everything. He was being charming, which wasn't anything new. He had always been a charmer. Now though, he was also expressing what seemed like a genuine interest in her life. She could feel herself being pulled towards him like a magnet. But that would be a mistake. Right?

The elevator dinged and she smoothed out invisible wrinkles in her dress before exiting. Her eyes were immediately drawn to Harvey. He was standing in the lobby wearing a tuxedo and looking out the windows. The tuxedo was fitted to him perfectly, hugging every part of his body. She couldn't help but let her eyes roam up and down.

He turned around and she pretended she wasn't just checking him out by opening and closing her small purse. "Hey."

"Hi." He grinned. "You look…absolutely stunning tonight."

"Thanks." She smiled. "You don't look half bad yourself."

"Are you ready to go?" He held out his hand.

She hesitated for a moment but then took his hand. "Yeah. Let's go. Is Ray driving us tonight?"

"No." He shook his head. "I thought I would drive us."

When they got out of the building, he led them to a car.

"Are you serious?" She looked over at him. "You're driving an Aston Martin DB9?"

"Yes I am and you know your cars." He looked impressed and opened the door for her.

She got in, making sure her long gown didn't get stuck in the door. Then she looked around the interior of the car while he walked over to the driver's side.

"I have a deep fascination with cars so I belong to a car club. I thought this would be a good one to show up in for Robert's party." He informed her as he slid into the driver's seat. "Do you mind? Is it too much?"

"It is a little too much." She laughed. "But it's ok because I love this car. It is amazing. All of the Aston Martin's are my favorite."

"How do you know so much about cars?"

"Oh, well my stepfather loved cars." She explained. "He owned the largest group of car dealerships in Arizona so cars were his life. He was always going on and on about them. I guess at some point it started to rub off on me and I learned more than I thought."

"I didn't realize your mom got remarried after the divorce."

"Yeah. She met Kevin a couple of months after we moved to Arizona and fell head over heels in love with him."

"Was he a good guy?" Harvey asked as he started to drive towards Robert's house.

"He was the best." She nodded. "He didn't cheat on her like my dad did and I think he really loved her. He made her really happy and he was a good stepfather too. I had no complaints."

"You're speaking in past tense a lot." He pointed out in a soft tone. "What happened?"

She looked over at him. "They didn't take a real honeymoon after they got married. So for their third anniversary he surprised her with tickets to Hawaii. She was so excited to go. My dad had never done anything romantic like that for her so she thought it was the greatest thing ever. Anyway, their plane had engine trouble over the Pacific and they weren't anywhere near land. So the plane crashed into the water and there were no survivors."

He looked over at her. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. You were curious about how I ended up becoming a lawyer. After the plane crash I was approached by lawyers to join the class action lawsuit against the airline. I didn't understand a lot of what was going on…the terminology and the procedure of it all. So I started reading up on it and developed a deep fascination. One day I decided to switch to law school and I never looked back."

She turned away from him, choosing to look outside the window as he drove. That wasn't something she told many people. But he asked and she was trying to be more open with him since they were trying to be friends.

"I didn't mean to make you recount that." He said in a soft voice. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you had to go through that and I'm sorry because I feel like I have ruined your evening now."

"You didn't." She assured him, still looking out the window. "It was a long time ago. I mean, it still hurts. I loved my mom and Kevin was a great guy. He was a much better father than my actual dad. But time moves forward and makes the emotions less raw. I'm sure you feel something similar with your own father's death."

"Yeah." He agreed. "It still hurts, but it has gotten better."

She looked over at him. "What do you say we stop with the depressing topics and switch to something happier?"

He smiled at her. "I think that sounds like a wonderful plan."

* * *

When they pulled up to Robert's house, he wasn't surprised that there was a valet parking the cars. He got out and threw the keys to the man, smirking at the surprised look on the valet's face. He then hurried over to the passenger side, holding out his hand for Victoria to take as she got out of the car.

"Thank you." She said softly, letting go of his hand after she was out of the car.

"Ready to go in?" He asked. He held out his arm for her to take but was disappointed when she gave him a stern glare.

"We're friends." She reminded him before chuckling. "You gave me a ride here and you're giving me a ride home. That's where this ends."

"Whatever you say." He smirked, motioning for her to go ahead. He would wear her down eventually. After all, she was already starting to talk to him like a friend. And after kissing her the other day he knew she still had some feelings for him. She definitely liked him. Now he just had to get her feeling comfortable enough to admit it.

It had been a while since he was last in Robert's house. In fact, he couldn't actually remember the last time. Nowadays he usually never got past the front porch. He suspected that had to do with the fact that Robert was still angry about his involvement in the whole Mike debacle.

It didn't take Victoria long to find Robert, who was standing next to Laura at the staircase. He watched as she headed straight over, hugging both of the Zane's. He couldn't help but marvel over how close she seemed to be to both of them. He wondered how they even met or became so close.

"I love your dress." Victoria told Laura.

"Thank you." Laura smiled. "It is the exact same design of my wedding dress, only in a purple fabric instead of white."

"Well it's gorgeous." Victoria smiled back.

"I love your dress too." Laura complimented.

* * *

Harvey loved the dress as well and took the opportunity to look her up and down. It was a dark blue spaghetti strap dress with a modest neckline. The back however was different story. Her back was completely exposed in a U shape that went down dangerously close to her ass.

When he was done ogling her, he looked over at Robert. The man had a disapproving look on his face. Apparently he had seen the ogling and wasn't happy about it. He figured it was just another thing Robert could be upset with him about so it didn't bother him too much. He put a smile on his face and walked over to Robert.

"Congratulations on 30 years of wedded bliss." He said, holding out his hand.

Robert shook his hand. "Thank you Harvey."

"The place looks great."

Robert grabbed his arm and pulled him close to whisper into his ear. "Just remember that I see everything and I know you. Leave Victoria alone. She's too good for you."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that at first. There was a good chance the man was right. By most standards he wasn't a good man. He certainly had his faults and had made his share of mistakes. But honestly it wasn't up to Robert to decide if he was worthy of Victoria. It wasn't even his decision. It was her decision.

He settled on simply smiling. "You may be right about that Robert."

"I normally am." Robert reminded him. "I'll be watching you."

He turned his attention to Laura. "Congratulations. You certainly don't look old enough to have been married for 30 years. Have you managed to somehow find the fountain of youth?"

Laura laughed. "Harvey. I see you are still a charmer."

He smirked. "Well when you are good at something, why give it up?"

Laura laughed again. "Enjoy yourself tonight. I'm sure you can find plenty of women to charm here."

Truthfully the only one he wanted to charm was Victoria. But she seemed to be in a conversation with Robert so he decided to head into the party and meet up with her later.

* * *

"You came here with Harvey?" Robert sighed. "Are you out of your Goddamn mind?"

She rolled her eyes. It was sweet of him to be protective of her but it was unnecessary. She could take care of herself. "Relax. We aren't together. He just gave me a ride here. That's all."

"Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" He chuckled. "You should have seen the way he was looking at you. It was like he was a vulture waiting to strike and you were the carrion. Don't let his charm fool you. He will only hurt you and isn't right for you."

"I appreciate your concern." She smiled. She didn't need Robert to tell her that Harvey was staring at her earlier. She was aware of it while she was talking to Laura. It was like she had Spiderman's spidey-sense.

"I'm serious." He warned her. "He obviously has feelings for you."

"I know." She nodded.

"Maybe putting you two together on the class action was a bad idea."

"I can handle myself."

"I know. Just try not to fall for him." He told her.

Too late.

"I appreciate the advice." She told him. "But you should also know I don't always listen to advice."

It was his turn to roll his eyes at her. "Oh I know." He was silent for a moment. "Just be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Ok. I am always careful." She smiled before walking into the rest of the party. She grabbed a glass of champagne and started to mingle. There were a lot of people from the firm here but she didn't feel like talking to them right now. So she just gingerly walked around. When she got to the food table, she grabbed a napkin to take an appetizer.

"Not a single decent appetizer." The man next to her complained.

She looked over and smiled. "The crab puffs look good."

"I guess. I just thought that Robert would have more of a diverse spread of food. But I see I was wrong. No one really knows how to throw a good party anymore. It's apparently a lost art." He sighed. "I'm Louis Litt."

"Victoria Sullivan." She shook his hand. So this was the Louis Litt that Harvey was telling her about. Harvey didn't exaggerate.

"How do you know Robert?" Louis asked.

"I work for him." She replied. "And you are the Litt from Pearson Specter Litt, right?"

"The one and only." He smiled. "Do you want to know something else that is a lost art nowadays?"

"Sure." She nodded.

"The ballet." Louis explained. "No one really wants to go to the ballet anymore. I mean, I do but that's because I am a ballet enthusiast. But most people just don't care. They think of the ballet as a frivolous relic of the past."

"I never thought of it that way."

"Do you ever go to the ballet?" Louis asked.

She shook her head. "No. I don't."

"Because it's a lost art." He lamented.

"You may have a valid point there." She told him.


	12. Chapter 12

One Flight Down

Chapter Twelve

"If I may have everyone's attention for a moment." Robert clinked on his glass and waited for everyone to look over. "Thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate with us. It still seems like just yesterday that Laura made me the happiest man ever and said I do. Now for those of you who may not know, I had to work extra hard to convince her that we should date. I fell in love with her at first glance."

"It took me a little longer than that." Laura spoke up, earning laughter from everyone.

Victoria looked around the room during the toast and found her eyes settling on Harvey. It shouldn't have surprised her that Robert picked up on the vibes between her and Harvey. He was an observant man and knew her well. She could tell by the look on his face that he knew something was going on and he wasn't happy about it even before he said anything.

What that something was, she didn't know. She knew she was still attracted to Harvey. He had only grown more handsome as time went on. But did that mean she still loved him? Could she still love him after all these years and all this time being apart? Was he still the same man she fell in love with as a teenager? Was she still the same woman? Thinking about it gave her a headache.

"I asked her out four times before she agreed. But I was persistent because I knew that we could be something special together." Robert smiled at his wife.

She was still looking at Harvey when he turned his head and they made eye contact. He smiled at her from across the room and winked. She couldn't help but smile before looking back at Robert.

"And then the rest is history." Robert continued. "We got married and were blessed with the best child we could have ever asked for in Rachel. It has been quite the ride these last 30 years and there is no one I would rather have by my side. Here's to another 30 years."

She watched as everyone raised their glasses to toast them. Once they were done toasting, the music started back up again and Robert led his wife onto the dance floor. She slowly made her way over to where Harvey was talking to Donna.

"Hey." She greeted when there was a lull in their conversation.

"Hey." He smiled at her. "You remember Donna, right?"

"Of course." She looked over at the red head. "It's nice to see you again."

"You too." Donna nodded.

"So I met Louis earlier." She told them with a laugh. "He is exactly how you described him to be. But you know who he actually reminded me of?"

"Tyler Whitman?" Harvey guessed.

"Oh my God, yes!" She exclaimed. "That is exactly who Louis reminds me of. Remember he used to come to school wearing those clip on ties and carried a briefcase?"

"And he would go around critiquing everyone's grammar." Harvey added.

"Yes!" She laughed. "Something tells me that Tyler and Louis would be best friends if they ever met."

"I agree." He nodded.

"Excuse me…" Donna interjected. "Did you say school? Did you go to school together? Which one? Elementary school? High school? College?"

"High school." She told Donna, wondering why the woman was so eager to find out.

"Oh I have so many questions for you." Donna laughed. "What was Harvey like in high school? Was he one of those popular jocks? How well did you two know each other? Did you two date?"

She looked over at Harvey, who was groaning.

"Not now Donna. Please." He chuckled. Then he looked at her. "Would you like to dance?"

"I don't know." She answered honestly. "Are you a better dancer now?"

"I haven't had any complaints." He smirked.

"Alright. I'll give you a shot, just please don't step on my toes like before." She was aware that dancing with him was borderline dangerous. But she wasn't sure she wanted to stay and have to answer Donna's questions. So it was the lesser of two evils.

They got onto the dance floor area and he wrapped his arm around her waist. They started to dance and she chuckled.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"You're just such a better dancer now." She explained. "Remember junior prom when you kept stepping on my feet? I had to dip them in ice when I got home."

"In all fairness, I didn't have a lot of experience dancing back then."

"True." She would give him that much. "But you still stepped on my feet all night."

"Yes, I did." He chuckled. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's ok." She assured him. "Do you mind if I ask why you wanted to dance now?"

"It was only partially to get away from Donna and that look in her eyes." He laughed.

She couldn't help but laugh too. "That look was intense. Is she always that inquisitive?"

"She is my closest friend. I've known her for over ten years and I tell her everything. But I think it is driving her crazy that I haven't told her anything about how we know each other. She didn't even know you were a part of my past until now."

He didn't even tell his closest friend about her? She wasn't sure what to think about that. "You said that was only partially the reason. What's the other reason?"

"Dancing means I get more time with you." He replied with a smile.

"Harvey…"

"I know." He chuckled. "You don't have to remind me again. We're just friends. But I like spending time with you. I mean, can you blame me? You are pretty awesome."

"Well I know I'm awesome." She couldn't help but chuckle. "And I see you're still trying to lay on the charm pretty thick."

"Maybe." He shrugged. "Is it working?"

"I plead the fifth." She told him. "Let's just dance."

"Fine with me." He grinned.

* * *

They ended up dancing for several songs, mostly in silence. But that was fine with him. It was wonderful just to have her in his arms again. When they finally had enough dancing, he followed her to get something to drink.

"So how was that for dancing?" He asked.

"Well you didn't step on my feet once and even included a couple of spins." She explained. "I would say you have definitely improved your dancing skills. I'm impressed."

"Why thank you." He smirked. "Are you having a good time?"

"I am." She smiled. "What about you?"

"I definitely am." He told her.

"But it is getting a little late." She explained. "I have to work tomorrow."

"Did you want to leave?"

"Would you mind?"

"Not at all." He assured her.

"Just let me go say goodbye to Robert and Laura."

"Ok." He nodded. "I'll go have the valet get the car and meet you out front."

* * *

Victoria had said goodbye to the Zanes and was on her way out to meet Harvey so they could begin the drive back when Donna approached her. "Oh hi again."

"Hi." Donna smiled. "I wanted to apologize for earlier. I may have come across as a little overzealous with all of the questions."

"It's fine. I understand now where you are coming from." She assured the woman with a smile. "Harvey told me that he usually tells you everything. So I can imagine not knowing anything about me is frustrating."

"So why hasn't he told me anything about you?" Donna chuckled. "I've asked several times and he is still very secretive."

"I wouldn't know." She shrugged. To be honest, it was a little weird to her that he hadn't told anyone about her or their past. Was he trying to hide it?

"Well I won't put you in the position of telling me because that wouldn't be fair to you. I'll keep asking him until he finally cracks." Donna explained. "I was just curious."

"I'll tell you the basics if you want." She took a deep breath. "We dated for a long time in high school until I had to move away. He was a huge jerk and broke up with me in a way that almost destroyed me. So maybe he didn't tell you because he is ashamed of how he treated me. Maybe he didn't tell you because I didn't mean anything to him. Or maybe he didn't tell you for a different reason altogether. I really don't know. But there is the short version of the story."

"Victoria…I'm sor-"

"It's fine. At least now you know." She interrupted Donna before she could finish her sentence. "But if you will excuse me, it's time for me to leave."

"Of course." Donna nodded.

* * *

The ride back was quiet. He kept looking over at her from time to time. She was keeping her gaze on the road instead of looking over at him. Ever since she came out to the car, she was acting weirdly towards him. She barely said two words to him the whole trip back. Now that they were almost to their building he wasn't sure what to think. He finally decided to say something.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" He asked lightheartedly.

"Nothing." She replied.

"You've been extremely quiet." He pointed out. "Is everything alright?"

"Just tired."

He was lucky to find a parking spot close to their building and slid in carefully. Once he turned off the car, he saw her get out of the car and head inside. He hurried to catch up to her. They stood together in front of the elevator door, waiting for it to come back to the lobby.

"Something is clearly bothering you." He pointed out softly. "Want to tell me what it is?"

"Not particularly."

He followed her into the elevator when it opened and watched as she pushed the button for her floor. "C'mon. Something is bothering you. I thought we had a good time tonight."

"We did." She nodded.

"But something is clearly wrong now." He pointed out.

"You didn't tell Donna about me."

"No." He admitted. "I didn't."

"You said it yourself earlier. You tell her everything. But in the ten plus years you have known her, you've neglected to tell her anything about me."

"And you are mad about that?" He guessed. While her tone was calm and she wasn't yelling, he could tell that she was upset about it. "Did something happen before you came out to the car?"

"I had a conversation with Donna." She admitted.

"God, what did Donna say to you?" He groaned.

"Don't go blaming Donna." She argued. "She was nothing but respectful. It just got me thinking about things and I don't understand why you didn't tell her about me…about us."

He sighed. He should have known that this would come back to bite him in the ass. "Victoria, I have a good reason for not telling Donna."

The door to the elevator opened and Victoria turned around. "I'm sorry. It's really none of my business anyway. It's your life and she's your friend. I shouldn't have even brought it up. Thank you for the ride tonight."

He watched as she left the elevator and headed to her place. He couldn't let her go without explaining so he followed her. "Wait."

She didn't stop until she was at her door. "What is it Harvey?"

"The reason I didn't tell Donna anything about us or about you…it's not what you think."

"How do you know what I am thinking?" She scoffed.

"Because contrary to what you believe, I still know you." He smirked. "You believe I didn't say anything because you didn't mean anything to me. Am I right?"

"Yeah. Ok…maybe that thought did cross my mind. I mean, I'm assuming she knows most if not all of your darkest secrets. But yet she didn't know anything about me."

"I can see how that would be upsetting to you." He told her. "The real reason I didn't tell her or really anyone about us is because I was ashamed. I was terrible to you and I thought that if I pretended like it didn't happen then it wouldn't hurt anymore. I thought that I could suppress it and pretend that I wasn't a complete bastard to you. But I was wrong. Every time I thought about you and how we ended, it hurt. Things might have been drastically different if I had just handled that day differently. And I honestly didn't want to relive it with anyone because I knew they would realize I was horrible back then."

"So it wasn't because I didn't mean anything to you?" She asked softly.

"No." He shook his head. "That wasn't the reason at all. Back then you meant everything to me."

"But you still let me go." She pointed out.

"I was a Goddamn idiot back then." He grinned.

"Yeah." She nodded. "You kind of were."

"So are we ok again?" He asked.

She nodded.

He wasn't sure he wanted to push his luck, but then decided to go for it. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Goodnight." Then he turned around and went towards the elevator.


	13. Chapter 13

One Flight Down

Chapter Thirteen

"Donna, get in here." Harvey called out to her when she came in the next day. He watched the surprised look on her face as she entered his office.

"What are you doing in so early?" She questioned.

"What?" He chuckled. "I come in early sometimes."

"Not really." She argued. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing. I just felt like coming in early today. It's not that odd for me to be here early so please stop with the third degree." He explained with a sigh. "Anyway, I heard you had a conversation with Victoria last night."

"I did." She nodded.

"What exactly did she tell you?"

"She said you dated in high school, she moved away and you broke up with her." Donna explained, sitting down.

"That's right." He nodded.

"I'm sorry I kept hounding you about her." Donna apologized. "It wasn't right of me to keep after you about it. You have the right to keep certain things private. I won't be hounding you about her again."

"I appreciate that." He was quiet for a moment.

"Before I close this topic, I will say that it seems to me you really hurt her." Donna pointed out. "I don't know exactly what happened between you two and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But, I have to tell you that as a woman, I can see things that maybe you don't necessarily see. Judging from the look on her face when she talked about it, I'm not sure she is completely over it…or you for that matter."

He wasn't sure what to say to that so he stayed quiet.

"But that's all." She said as she stood up. "Is there anything else you need before I get started for the day?"

"No." He shook his head. "Thanks."

He thought they had a good time at the party, except for the end of the evening. But he could see how she would feel insecure about the fact that he hadn't told anyone about her. It wasn't done out of malice though and he was fairly certain she realized that now.

This morning he thought about calling her, but he didn't want to seem too over eager.

* * *

"So I heard a little rumor today…" Katrina chuckled as she came into Victoria's office.

"Oh really?" She asked as she continued to type on her laptop. "Anything juicy I should know about?

"Yeah." Katrina nodded. "I heard that you took Harvey as your date to Robert's anniversary party."

"Well that's not entirely true." She shook her head and looked over at her friend.

"So you two didn't arrive together, leave together or hit the dancefloor?" Katrina laughed.

"Well we did…but it wasn't a date." She told her. "It's complicated."

"Oh this explanation should be good."

She waited until Katrina was seated before explaining any further. "Harvey actually lives one floor above me. So it just made sense to drive to the party together."

"Ok. I can get behind trying to save the environment." Katrina smirked. "But how did dancing with him play into it?"

"I don't know." She sighed. "But who are you? The dancing police?"

The truth of the matter was that the party had a deeper effect on her than she thought it would. It was nice to have fun with him again. She didn't realize just how much she missed that. And dancing with him brought up too many old feelings.

Then there was the fact that he hadn't told Donna or anyone about their relationship. Maybe it was wrong of her to be hurt by that, considering the fact that she hadn't technically told anyone either. It did make her feel like their relationship didn't mean anything to him. Though he did explain it pretty well so she wasn't as hurt now.

She wondered if she was being a hypocrite. After all, no one here in New York City knew about her past with him. While she had told the whole story to Robert, she didn't use names so he had no clue it was Harvey.

"Are you sure you want to go down this path?" Katrina asked, pulling her out of her reverie. "Harvey isn't exactly known for being the relationship type."

"Who said anything about a relationship?" She laughed.

"I feel like I know you pretty well by now." Katrina told her. "You have a look on your face that says you're into him. And as much as you might try, you aren't a one-night stand girl."

"I know." She nodded. "But it's going to be fine."

"Ok." Katrina nodded. "I'll let it go."

"Thank you." She smiled.

* * *

It was a little later than normal when Victoria made it into the building. She stayed late at work to get some extra stuff done for Robert since he was out of town with Laura. Unfortunately this morning she didn't realize that it was going to rain so she didn't bring an umbrella with her. The mad dash she made from the cab into the building had left her soaked. She looked forward to getting into her place, changing into dry pajamas and ending the night with a glass of wine. Maybe she would have two glasses.

It had been a long week, full of surprises and some stress. It was nice spending time with Harvey, but it was also stressful because she knew she was flirting with danger. The more time she spent with him, the more she found herself drawn to him.

That wasn't the reason she came to New York City. She didn't come work for Robert as a way to get back into Harvey's life. It would be a lie to say that idea didn't cross her mind, but she always pushed it back deep down into the dark recesses of her mind. The truth of the matter was she came to New York City because she had to get out of Chicago. She wanted to go to a city with some of the top tier law firms in the country, so that meant either Los Angeles or New York City. Since she didn't want to live in California, it left New York City as the only option.

It didn't take her long for the elevator to stop on her floor. She hurried into her place and closed the door. Dry clothes were calling her name. As she stepped into her bedroom, she heard a loud crackle of thunder. Two seconds later the lights went out.

"Shit." She yelled, pulling her phone out of her purse. Using the flashlight on her phone, she made her way over to her nightstand. There was a candle there, as well as some matches. So she quickly lit the candle and set out to change her clothes.

After changing her clothes, she took both her phone and the candle into the living room. In the past, when the lights went out they would come back on within a couple of minutes. But so far there wasn't any indication that the lights would flicker back on. So she went around and lit the candles that were spread out around the living room.

She took her phone into her kitchen so she could grab a bottle of wine. Thunder shook regularly and her place was temporarily lit up by the lightening that flashes every few seconds.

It looked like a bad storm out there and she was grateful she made it inside before it got too horrible out there. She never liked getting stuck out in the rain. Actually, there was one time she didn't mind.

" _Harvey! C'mon! It's pouring out here!" She cried out. They were on their way back to her house after a Saturday morning baseball game. Harvey had gone the whole game without giving up a single hit, ensuring that their team won. Although it was a pre-season exhibition game that didn't matter for the upcoming season, he was on cloud nine. Not even the storm was dampening his mood._

" _Hold on." He said, grabbing her hand and pulling her close to him._

" _How can you be in such a good mood?" She questioned. "This weather is miserable."_

" _I'm just happy. A little rain doesn't bother me."_

" _Harvey…" She chuckled. "It's more than a little rain. We're getting soaked. My house is right there…" She pointed behind her._

" _I know." He nodded. "I just…I want you to know something."_

" _And it can't wait the fifteen seconds it would take to get us to into a place where it isn't raining?" She grinned._

" _No." He shook his head as thunder roared around them. "It can't wait another moment."_

" _Ok." She rolled her eyes. "What's so important?"_

" _I love you."_

 _He said it quietly and for a moment she thought that she had imagined him saying it. They had been dating for almost six months now and while she knew she was in love with him, she wasn't sure about his feelings…until now._

" _Really?" She finally asked in a whisper._

" _Really." He nodded. "You know I love baseball and I loved pitching a no hitter game. I mean, what pitcher wouldn't love that? It's amazing and doesn't happen every day. But the thing that made it so great…the reason I'm so happy is because I could look into the stands and see you there cheering me on. You make everything so much more enjoyable…you make me happy. I love doing anything and being anywhere with you…even out here in the pouring rain."_

 _He was quiet for a moment before he continued. "I have loved you for a long time now. I just didn't know the right way to say it. But when I looked over at you just now as you were scrambling to get away from the rain, I realized there is no perfect time to tell you."_

" _I must look like a drowned rat by now." She chuckled._

" _You are the prettiest drowned rat I've ever seen." He assured her._

" _Well for what it's worth, I feel the same way about you. I love you Harvey." She told him, wrapping her arms around his neck._

 _He leaned in and kissed her, then swung her around._

" _Can we please go inside now?" She giggled._

" _Of course." He grinned._

A knock on her door brought her out of her reverie. She grabbed her cell phone and headed to the door. Opening it, she was surprised to see Harvey standing there with his cell phone in his hand. He was also using the flashlight feature of his phone.

"Harvey? What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to come check on you and make sure you were doing alright with the power outage." He explained.

"Well as you can see I'm fine." She assured him.

"Good." He nodded.

There was an awkward silence as she contemplated whether or not to ask him inside. Eventually she couldn't stop herself. "Do you want to come in for a drink? I just opened some wine."

"Yeah. That would be nice."

She moved out of the way so he could come inside. "It's in the kitchen. Follow me." She led them into the kitchen and got out another glass before pouring him some.

"Thanks." He smiled as she handed him the glass.

"You're welcome." She smiled back, leading him into the living room. She sat down on one side of the couch, tucking her legs beneath her.

There were enough candles in the room that it was easy to see him as he sat down on the other side of the couch. "So what is the real reason you came by tonight? Are you suddenly afraid of storms?"

"No, not exactly." He chuckled. "I…I wanted to see you. I wanted to talk to you. So I might have used the power outage as an excuse to come down here. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"No." She shook her head. "I guess not."

"I also was thinking today…"

"That's a dangerous thing." She joked.

"Yeah. It can be." He smiled before getting serious again. "Anyway, I was thinking that I haven't been fair to you. You have shared a lot with me and yet I haven't really let you in about what's gone on in my life."

"No, you haven't." She agreed.

"And that's not fair."

"No, it isn't." She agreed again.

"I thought maybe it was the right time to be honest with you about some things."

"Ok." She was curious to see where this was going so she took another sip of her wine. "You certainly have my attention."


	14. Chapter 14

One Flight Down

Chapter Fourteen

He looked over at her. Even in her yoga pants and t-shirt with damp hair, she was gorgeous to him. Before the power went out, he had planned on coming down and trying to talk to her. He couldn't focus on work very well today. Donna's words rang in his head on a loop.

" _Judging from the look on her face when she talked about it, I'm not sure she is completely over it…or you for that matter."_

Donna was always excellent at reading people and was rarely wrong about her conclusions. He wondered if this could be one of the rare times she was wrong. He wanted to believe that Victoria still had feelings for him…that maybe he hadn't ruined everything forever.

But if he wanted any kind of a chance with her, he had to be honest with her about his reaction the day he found out she was moving. He owed it her to tell her the whole story. She had been sharing a lot about her life. There was still a lot he didn't know, but he was learning more about her.

She was starting to let down her guard. He needed to reciprocate if he wanted to have a chance.

When the lights went out, he took it as a sign. He could do down and see if she was alright and then maybe get a chance to talk to her. As he sat on her couch drinking her wine, he wondered where to start.

"So are you going to say anything?" She chuckled.

"I'm just wondering where to start." He said, being honest.

"You can start anywhere you want." She told him.

"That day you told me about your move…"

"Oh boy." She took another drink of her wine. "It's gonna be that kind of disclosure. Maybe I should go get the rest of the wine from the kitchen."

He ignored that comment and continued to talk. "Look, Vic, everything I said to you…everything that happened…it wasn't about you."

"I know. It was about your mother." She said.

"Wh-how…" He stammered, utterly confused. "How the hell did you know that?"

"When I ran into Marcus in Boston, he mentioned that you weren't as close anymore because you exposed your mom's cheating to the family. I put two and two together and came up with four. It wasn't that hard to figure it out." She explained.

"So you've known for a while?"

"Yep." She nodded.

He wasn't sure if he should be relieved that she knew or annoyed that Marcus had told her. He settled on a combination. "So you know that when I broke up with you that day, it wasn't about you?"

"I know that you must have been dealing with a lot of conflicting emotions." She told him. "What exactly happened?"

"I came home from practice and caught my mom cheating. She somehow convinced me that I should keep it a secret because if I told my father it would only break his heart and tear apart the family."

"I'm sorry." She apologized, giving him a small smile. "That must have been rough being put in that position."

"It was." He nodded. "And when you told me you were moving because your father was cheating on your mom…it really set me off. I'm not saying it was fair to you because it wasn't."

"No it wasn't." She agreed.

"I shouldn't have said that you would cheat on me. You had never given me any reason to believe you were capable of something like that. Just because your father cheated doesn't mean you would."

"I'm glad you realize that." She told him. "But I can see how you would react that way. If you were anything like me when I found out about my father, you were angry at your mother for cheating. I can only imagine how that must have been compounded by her having you keep it a secret. But let's be completely honest. Our relationship may have been officially over that day, but you had broken up with me long before that."

"Victoria, that's not true."

He watched as she took a long drink of her wine and then stood up. She walked over to the window and looked out with her back to him.

"Harvey…it is true. You spent months pushing me away."

He stood up. "I wasn't trying to. I just was overwhelmed…"

"I get it." She turned around to face him. "Trust me, I get it. I may not have for the longest time, but…"

"No." He argued, walking over to her. "I don't think you do."

She scoffed and shook her head. "You didn't trust me."

"How can you say that?"

"It's easy because it's the truth." She shrugged. "You had countless chances to tell me what was bothering you because I asked you at least once every day. But you always shrugged it off and said nothing was wrong. You not only broke my heart. You also made me feel like I was crazy. I knew something was wrong. I knew something was bothering you."

"I know. You asked me a lot." He nodded.

"And every time I asked, you looked at me like I had grown a second head. Every time you told me that nothing was wrong, that everything was fine and I was just imagining things. But you were systematically pushing me away a little at a time and I couldn't stop you."

"I never meant to hurt you like that."

"It's in the past." She shrugged.

He walked over to her and gently put his hands on her shoulders. "It is in the past, but I am still sorry about it."

"Can I ask you a question?"

He nodded. "You can ask me anything."

"Why didn't you love me enough to trust me?" Her voice was softer, unlike the hardened tone she was using earlier.

His heart broke when he looked into her eyes and started to realize just how much he had hurt her. "I…It..." He was having trouble finding the right words.

"It's fine." She shook her head. "I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that." She moved, breaking free of his grasp. "It doesn't even matter anymore."

A big clap of thunder boomed throughout the room. He stopped her from getting too far away from him by grabbing her hand.

"Harvey…"

"Victoria...it does matter. I didn't know what to do after I caught my mom cheating. I wanted to tell my father that day. I wanted to get everything out in the open. But I also didn't want to hurt him. I knew he wouldn't be able to forgive her and I knew that if I told him about what I saw it would break up my family. I didn't want to do that to Marcus. At the same time though, I hated keeping it a secret. It ate at me every day. I wanted so badly to tell you about it. But I didn't."

"Because you didn't trust me enough." She added.

"Because I didn't want you to think less of me." He explained, seeing the look of confusion on her face.

"Why would I think less of you?" She questioned.

"In hindsight, I should have told my father immediately. It would have been the right thing to do. I knew it back then but I wasn't brave enough to do it. I thought that if I told you about it and the fact that I was keeping the secret for my mom…well I thought you would see me as weak."

"I wouldn't have seen you as weak." She assured him.

"I do though." He replied softly. "I kept my mom's secret and instead of her ending the relationship like she promised, she kept cheating on him. I allowed her to keep making a fool of my father for a year longer than I should have. I made everything messier and more complicated than it needed to be just because I was afraid to be honest with everyone."

"You were a teenager." She reminded him. "You shouldn't have had to deal with that. Your mom shouldn't have put you in that position to begin with. She should have told your father herself instead of asking you to lie. I loved your mom but that was just plain wrong of her. And I wouldn't have thought you were weak or thought less of you in any way. I just wanted to help you with whatever was bothering you."

"But I didn't let you in."

"No you didn't."

"I'm sorry for that." He told her.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that alone." She told him.

He still had her hand in his so he lightly rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. "Can you ever forgive me?"

"I forgave you a while ago." She told him. "I had to or else it would have destroyed me."

"What do you mean?" He was confused by that statement.

She took her hand back, pulling it from his grasp before heading back to get her wine glass. "It's nothing."

"Really? Because it seems like something." He followed her back and picked up his wine glass too, drinking what little was left and placing it back down on the coffee table.

"I shouldn't have said anything." She sighed, draining the glass of the remains she had left behind.

"If you have something to say, then please say it." He encouraged her.

"I shouldn't because it isn't fair to blame some things on you."

"Well now I really want to know." He chuckled.

"Fine." She looked him square in the eyes. "Right after we moved to Arizona I got severely depressed. Moving to a new city on the other side of the country, dealing with the drama between my parents and dealing with the end of our relationship all caught up with me at once. I was miserable. I spent three months in a self-imposed quarantine. The only time I left my house was to go to school."

"I'm sorry." He told her. His heart broke for her at that news. He didn't want to be the reason she was depressed and felt even worse about how he treated her that day.

"It's ok." She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "I got through it."

"Still…"

"Can we please talk about something else?" She asked.

"Ok." If she didn't want to talk about it right now, then he would respect her wishes and drop it.

"So if you don't mind me asking, how is your relationship with your mom now?" She interrupted him.

He sighed. "That…is a question that requires more wine."

She gave him a smile. "Luckily for you, I have plenty more wine."


	15. Chapter 15

One Flight Down

Chapter Fifteen

Victoria went back into the kitchen to grab more wine. When she came back to the living room, she saw Harvey on the floor sitting up against the back of the couch. He was facing the windows. Lightening was still going strong every so often. Grabbing her wine glass, she went over and sat next to him on the floor.

"Why are we sitting on the floor?" She questioned as she refilled his wine glass.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I just thought maybe it would be fun to sit and watch the lightening."

"Ok." She nodded. She then raised her glass up to him.

"What should we drink to?" He asked.

"How about power outages and rain?" She suggested.

"Sounds good to me."

They clinked glasses.

"Do you remember the day we said I love you for the first time?" He asked.

She was caught off guard by the question because she thought they were going to talk about his mom. But she recovered quickly. "Of course I do. In fact, I was thinking about that earlier tonight when I got caught out there in the rain."

"I bet you're still the prettiest drowned rat I've ever seen." He said, looking over at her and smiling.

The fact that he was quoting what he said to her that day so many years ago got to her. She didn't think he would remember that. Apparently she was wrong. She gave him a small smile and turned back to look out the window as she remembered what happened after that.

" _Why don't you go into the bathroom? You can take your clothes off there and I'll bring you something from my dad's closet. It may not fit exactly, but it will at least be something you can wear while I put your clothes in the dryer." She told him once they finally made it into her house and out of the pouring rain._

" _Alright." He nodded._

 _She went to go upstairs so she could get dry clothes for herself and for him as well but he grabbed her hand and lightly pulled her to him._

" _One more kiss before you go?" He grinned._

" _I'll only be gone for a minute." She reminded him._

" _Humor me." He winked._

 _She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. After a moment, she snuck out of his grasp and winked. "I'll be right back."_

 _It only took her a few minutes to throw on a dry pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Finding something for Harvey to wear from her dad's closet took the most time. She finally settled on pajama pants because they had a drawstring for the waist and a white undershirt._

" _Open the door a little and I'll hand you the clothes." She said once she got to the bathroom that Harvey was in. A moment later the door opened and his hand appeared to grab the clothes._

" _So where are your parents?" He asked. "I'm not really looking forward to the possibility that your dad will walk in and find me wearing his clothes."_

" _My mom is Phoenix visiting my grandparents until Monday. My dad is at the hospital pulling a double shift. He won't be back until sometime tomorrow. So you are safe." She chuckled._

" _You can laugh all you want." He chuckled, coming out of the bathroom while holding his wet clothes. "I just know your dad would probably try to kill me if he saw me in his clothes. I don't know why he doesn't like me."_

" _I don't know either." She shrugged. "I don't think it is something for you to take personally though. Sometimes I get the feeling he doesn't like anyone. But if it helps any, my mom adores you."_

" _I only truly care about if her daughter adores me." He smirked._

" _Well then it really is your lucky day because her daughter does adore you." She smiled, taking the clothes. "These should be dry in about twenty minutes. Why don't you go out to the living room and I'll meet you in a moment?"_

" _Alright." He nodded._

 _She hurried into the laundry room and stuck his clothes in the dryer before heading back to the living room._

" _So what do you want to do?" He asked. "Want to watch some TV or a movie?"_

" _We could do that." She said, going over to the couch._

" _Is there something else you want to do?"_

" _Maybe." She bit her lip out of nervousness._

" _Well?" He chuckled. "What do you want to do? I don't mind as long as I get to spend time with you."_

" _Can I ask you a question first?" She needed to know the answer to this before she went any further._

" _Of course."_

" _Why exactly do you love me?"_

" _Oh." He chuckled. "That's the easiest question you could ask me. I love you because you are amazing. You are smart, sexy, kind, funny and you put up with me. You encourage me and support me. But most of all, being with you makes each day better than the last."_

" _Ooooh. That's a good answer." She smirked._

" _So now you have me feeling curious. Why do you love me?" He asked._

" _I love you because I feel like I can trust you not to hurt me. You always make me feel protected, like nothing can ever truly hurt me. You would do anything for the people you care about. And you are one person I never get tired of being around."_

" _Also a good answer." He smiled._

" _Thank you for your answer." She told him. "It was something I needed to know before…"_

" _You kind of trailed off there." He chuckled. "Before what?"_

" _Before I do this." She slowly moved across the couch and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him with all the passion she could muster. He wrapped his arms around her body. After a few moments of kissing, she pulled away enough so that she could take off her shirt and throw it behind the couch._

" _Vic…"_

" _What?" She asked innocently as she started pulling at the strings of his pants._

" _What has gotten into you?" He laughed._

" _Nothing…yet." She winked._

" _Are you saying you want to…?"_

" _Yeah." She nodded. "Don't you?"_

" _Of course I do. I'm a guy. I want to most of the time. But I thought you wanted to wait." He looked confused. "I thought we were waiting."_

" _I did and we were." She explained. "But I don't want to wait anymore."_

" _Are you sure about this?" He asked. "Because it isn't something you can take back."_

" _I'm sure." She nodded._

" _Shouldn't our first time be special though?"_

 _She laughed. "You might be the only guy in history trying to convince his girlfriend not to give up her virginity to him."_

" _I'm definitely not saying that." He laughed. "I'm just saying shouldn't it be…I don't know…something more than this?"_

" _I think it is special because it's with you and it's on the day we said I love you for the first time." She reasoned._

" _I'm just trying to give you a way out if you want it." He explained._

" _I appreciate that." She smiled. "But I don't want a way out. I want you."_

" _Then we should go upstairs to your room. A couch isn't special enough."_

" _Fine with me." She leaned in and gave him a kiss before getting up. Then she held out her hand for him to grab so they could go upstairs._

"Vic?"

She looked over and saw Harvey staring at her. "What?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for a few minutes now. Where did your mind go?"

"Nowhere." She quickly replied. "Sorry."

"It's fine." He assured her.

She had to stop thinking about their first time because it was making her too sentimental and she didn't trust herself not to try and reenact it. A neutral topic would help. "So…back to your mom…"

"Yeah." He nodded, setting his glass down next to him. "I haven't spoken to her since my father's funeral. And that was a disaster."

"What happened?" She asked.

"I blew up at her because she brought the guy she cheated on my dad with as her date. Apparently they are still together if you can believe it." He chuckled. "And she had the audacity to bring him to my father's funeral."

"Well I'm sure that was upsetting for you."

He looked over at her. "But you don't think she was wrong to do it."

"I didn't say that." She held up her hands in mock surrender.

"You didn't have to." He chuckled. "Your voice did that thing."

"What thing?" She laughed.

"That thing! I can't describe it but when you try to placate someone your voice does this specific thing. And you just did that."

"I don't do a thing." She scoffed.

"You do." He insisted. "You always have. It's nice to see some things don't change."

She wasn't sure what to say to that so she stayed silent and took a drink of her wine.

"So you don't think it was disrespectful for her to bring him to my father's funeral?" He asked.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I mean, by the time your father died it had been several years since they got divorced. Did you honestly expect her to live like a nun for all of that time? And the fact that she was still with the same guy is rather impressive in some ways."

"You're on her side?"

"I'm not on anyone's side." She insisted. "I'm Switzerland in this situation. But what happened to set you off so much? Was it just the presence of that guy?"

"No. It wasn't just that." He sighed. "She wanted to just pretend like the past didn't happen…like everything was fine and we would be a happy family."

"You mean she wants to have a relationship with you?"

"Yes." He nodded. "She's tried to reach out quite a few times."

"And what is your reaction to it?" She asked.

"I ignore her." He answered. "I don't answer her phone calls or her emails."

She took a deep breath to try and calm down. "Let me get this straight. You have a mom who is alive and actually wants to make amends for what happened over twenty years ago instead of pretending that you don't exist and your reaction is to completely ignore her?"

"That's an oversimplification of it…"

"No." She shook her head and scoffed. "That's the truth. Your mom made mistakes. I'm sure she realizes what those were and feels bad about the damage she caused because she was never a psychopath. She just obviously made some bad choices along the way. And I can understand you wanting to put some distance between yourself and her. But at some point you have to ask yourself is it worth it? Is it worth isolating yourself from your family? Because instead of trying to work towards forgiving her, you've simply shut her out for decades. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"That's not fair." He argued. "You don't know what you're talking about."

She stood up. "No. You know what isn't fair? It isn't fair to have your mother taken away from you before you are ready. It isn't fair to have a father who refuses to acknowledge you are even alive. And it isn't fair for you to treat your mom like a total stranger or berate her for finding happiness in a messy situation. I'm sure her bad choices hurt you back then and you have a right to be angry. But maybe you need to just grow the hell up, act like a man and forgive her before it's too late."

She looked at him and saw that he was speechless, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She didn't mean to blow up at him but the damage was done. She sighed. "Look, I think you should go back to your place now. I'm tired and I'm going to bed."

She didn't wait for him to say anything before heading over to the door and opening it.

"I don't want to leave with you being so angry." He told her as he walked to the door.

"Well I don't want you here when I am so angry." She told him.

"Victoria…"

"Please just go." She whispered. "Ok? We can talk about it another time."

"Fine."

She watched him leave and head for the stairs so he could go up the one flight to his place.


	16. Chapter 16

One Flight Down

Chapter Sixteen

By the next morning, the power had come back on and the sun was shining through the windows. Victoria poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at her kitchen island. She didn't sleep well, the words she said to Harvey rang through her head. It wasn't right for her to berate him that way. Her situation with her own father and his with his mother weren't the same. They had shades of similarity but they weren't equal and she should have reigned in her own feelings.

She was certain he had his reasons for not reaching out to his mother. But in the moment she found it hard to not judge him. Her father barely acknowledged her as his daughter. She still remembered the last time she talked to her father. It was right after her mom and stepfather died in the plane crash.

" _Hello?"_

" _Dad…" She was glad he actually picked up the phone._

" _Victoria? What are you doing calling me?" Peter asked in a gruff voice._

" _I thought…I just…mom is dead." She started to cry._

" _And?"_

" _And?" She repeated. "What do you mean and?"_

" _What do you expect me to do?"_

" _I was hoping that you would care about the fact that your daughter is in pain." She told him. "Or that the mother of your child is dead."_

" _Look, I'm sorry that you are having a rough time." He told her. "I just don't know what you expect from me. I have Stephanie now and she is pregnant. I have a new family."_

" _And you don't care about your old one?" She asked._

" _It's not that simple." He argued. "I just have a lot of things going on right now and I don't have the ability to be there for you."_

" _You never have." She said softly._

" _I'm sorry your mom is dead." He told her. "But I know you'll be fine. And I really have to go now. Bye Victoria."_

It took her a few years to try and talk to him again. Her anger over his nonchalant attitude about her mother's death consumed her. But she still tried to reach out to him. She called him several times and sent him letters to the last address she had for him. Every attempt went unreciprocated though.

The last time she tried to contact him was before she moved to New York City but again he didn't respond.

Taking a look at the clock, she knew what she needed to do.

Harvey woke up to the sound of what seemed like loud knocking on his door. He looked at the time and sighed. So much for sleeping in this morning. He got out of bed and headed to the door. Opening it, he was surprised to see Victoria there. If there was ever a good reason for being woken up before he wanted, she was it. He couldn't even be mad about waking up earlier since it meant he got to see her. "Hey."

"Did I wake you?" She asked.

He noticed that she was having trouble looking him in the eye. She kept looking at his chest. Then he remembered that he had slept without a shirt on last night and smirked. He knew it sounded conceited but he knew he looked good shirtless. It was nice to see her ogling him a little. "Yeah, you did. But that's ok."

"I brought you some coffee as a peace offering." She handed it to him.

"Thank you but it wasn't necessary." He moved out of the way. "You want to come inside?"

She nodded and he watched as she came in and stood in the middle of his living room.

"It's a much nicer day today." She commented.

"Yeah. That storm was something else." He nodded. "I'm glad they got the power back on."

"Me too." She nodded. "Look Harvey, I wanted to apologize for going off on you last night about your mom."

"You don't have to." He assured her.

"Yeah, I kind of do." She insisted. "The truth is my father doesn't care about me. He has a new family now and I apparently don't fit in with them. We don't talk and I don't see that changing anytime soon because in order for it to change both people have to want it to change. I do, but he doesn't."

"I'm sure that isn't true."

"It is though." She nodded. "I tried to reach out to him so many times in college and got rejected over and over again. I finally had to stop trying because it hurt too much."

"I'm sorry you have such a strained relationship with your father." He felt horrible that her father didn't want to be a part of her life and it made no sense to him. Granted, he remembered that her father wasn't the father of the year growing up. But still. "I find it hard to believe he doesn't want to be in your life though. He must not know you well because there is no way he would be able to turn his back on you if he knew how amazing you are."

He saw her blush slightly and smiled.

"I guess my point with all of this is that when you told me your mom has tried to reach out to you but you ignore her…it made me go crazy for a moment because I know what it is like to be your mom in that situation. I know the frustration and the heartache over trying to connect with someone who just doesn't care about you. I've been there on that side of things. I know exactly how it feels."

"It isn't exactly the same thing though." He explained. "It's not like I don't care about my mom. I just…I don't know how to trust her and I don't know how to forgive her."

"It's been a long time." She pointed out. "Maybe it is time to see if it is even possible to trust or forgive her."

"Maybe." He nodded. "It's just been easier to ignore her."

"It's not healthy though."

"I know." He nodded. "You aren't the first person to tell me that. Donna has told me that repeatedly over the years."

"In my opinion you should listen to them. Donna seems smart."

"She is." He nodded.

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so harsh."

He looked at her and smiled. "After I left your place and came back up here I started to think about what you said. The truth is you are right. Maybe I do need to talk to her. I'm not saying I can magically forgive her or we could all of a sudden be one big happy family, but avoiding her isn't a good coping mechanism."

"No, it isn't." She agreed. "So can you forgive me for yelling at you?"

"Absolutely." He nodded. "I probably should thank you."

"I wouldn't go that far." She shook her head.

"How about we go grab breakfast? My treat." He offered.

"I shouldn't."

"Please?" He asked. "I like spending time with you."

He could see the conflict within her. After a moment she nodded. "Great. Just let me change and we'll get going."

"Alright." She told him.

He hurried into his bedroom so he could change quickly before she changed her mind. When he came out of the bedroom he saw her going through his records. "See anything you like?"

She looked over at him and he had to stop himself from laughing at the expression on her face. She looked like she had been caught red-handed.

"Sorry." She apologized. "I was just…"

"It's fine." He assured her, seeing her put the record that was in her hand back. He was able to see before that it was one of his father's records.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked.

"Yeah." He nodded.

* * *

Victoria poured some more syrup on her French toast. Harvey had insisted that they go to his favorite breakfast diner, claiming that they had the best French toast ever. It amazed her that he remembered French toast was her favorite breakfast food.

"So, that record you were looking at when I came out…"

"It was your father's." She nodded. "I didn't know it even existed."

"Well it did come out after we broke up." He reasoned.

"Yeah, but so did 'Empire of Dreams' and I still found that one." She said without thinking. She realized her folly when he started looking at her oddly.

"You bought my father's records?"

There was no lying to get out of this so she decided to tell the truth. "Yes. I did."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but why?" He asked softly.

She wasn't sure she wanted to get this personal, but had no choice now. "I thought your father was an amazing musician and a good guy. He obviously loved you and Marcus. I know he had his faults, but he always seemed to try and do right by his family. I admired that. And I loved his music."

"It means a lot to me that you would actively seek out his music." He told her. "You know he thought you were great. Actually everyone in my family loved you. They gave me such grief for the longest time after we broke up."

She chuckled. "Marcus still calls you an idiot for it."

"Yes he does." He laughed. "And he's not wrong."

She wasn't sure what to say to that so she went back to concentrating on eating her French toast.


	17. Chapter 17

One Flight Down

Chapter Seventeen

A week later, Victoria stood in the elevator with Robert. "So you really aren't going to tell me why it was so important for me to come with you to some super-secret late night meeting at Pearson Specter Litt?"

"No, I'm not." He told her with a chuckle. "You'll find out soon enough."

"I know something has been going on with you the past couple of weeks. You sure you don't want to just tell me now?"

"Just be patient." He looked over at her.

"Fine." She crossed her arms over her chest, aware that she looked like a petulant child throwing a tantrum. But at this moment she didn't care. Robert was acting weird lately, especially this last week. Ever since he came back from the getaway with his wife he had been making some cryptic comments and she was almost afraid to find out what they meant.

The fact that they were here in a rival's office after hours only intensified her curiosity and hesitance. The door opened and she followed him through the hallway to the conference room.

* * *

Harvey looked up and saw Robert and Victoria standing in the doorway.

"Ah good. You two are right on time. Everyone is here and we can begin now." Jessica smiled at them.

"What are they doing here?" Louis asked. "I thought this was a partner meeting."

"It is." Jessica nodded.

"So then why are they here?" Louis asked again.

"I invited them." Jessica explained.

He watched as Robert and Victoria sat on the opposite side of the table. Robert was his normal calm and collected self. Victoria on the other hand looked nervous. He couldn't help but feel nervous too. He sensed something was up and now it looked like they were going to find out what that something was.

"That's not a good enough explanation." Louis complained. "This is against the by-laws."

"Well, be quiet Louis and I will explain." Jessica chuckled. "Robert and I have been talking for several weeks."

"Oh my God. You aren't talking about a merger, are you?" Louis interrupted. "This is horrible news…"

"Goddamn it Louis." Harvey scoffed. "Can you just let Jessica talk for once without interrupting?"

"Fine." Louis sulked.

"Like I was saying…" Jessica cleared her throat. "Robert and I have been talking. After the class action suit that Harvey and Victoria are working on is completed, I will be stepping down as managing partner and leaving the firm."

"What?" Louis practically shrieked. "No, Jessica. You can't."

He sat there, listening to Louis berate Jessica and tell her all the reasons she couldn't leave. But he wasn't hearing the words. It was like he was underwater because everything was muffled. He looked over at Jessica. She was his mentor, a close friend and someone he considered a part of his family. He didn't understand why she was leaving the firm.

Sure things had gotten dicey lately because of the issues surrounding Mike. The firm had taken a big hit. But he thought they were on the same page about riding it out and getting past it all. He was depending on her leadership to help them get past this rough spot. Apparently she just wanted to abandon the firm though.

"Ok that's enough!" Jessica yelled at Louis. "You've had your say. Now let me explain where I am coming from. When I started here I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish in my career. It was a long list and there were times I didn't think I would get a chance to tick off all of the boxes. But I have. I've accomplished everything I set out to do here. Now I have an opportunity to go back to Chicago with an all new list and all new challenges."

"Is this because Jeff is moving to Chicago?" He asked quietly and as calmly as he could.

"I'd be lying if I said that didn't have something to do with it." She answered. "But I'm not simply chasing after a guy. I'm chasing after new opportunities as well. Besides, I also have family in Chicago."

"You have family here too, but you seem perfectly happy to abandon us when we need you the most." Louis pointed out.

"Louis that's enough." He looked over at the man and scowled. "Jessica is a grown woman who can make her own decisions. We don't have to like them but we should at the very least support her."

"Thank you Harvey." Jessica told him, giving him a smile. "Let's hope you still feel the same way after I tell you the rest."

"Oh goodie." Louis sighed. "There's more."

"Robert is leaving Rand, Kaldor and Zane to fill my spot here." Jessica explained.

"Why do we need him?" The question popped out of his mouth before he could stop it. He looked over at Robert and saw the man scowling at him.

"You are going to need someone experienced to take over the management of the firm so that other firms don't smell blood in the water and attack." Jessica pointed out.

"You want him to be managing partner?" He asked, looking over at Jessica. Although he thought that Jessica would be with the firm for a long time, he always imagined that he would take over for her as managing partner whenever she decided to step down. Now it seemed like he would be passed over for Robert, which didn't make him feel all warm and cozy. It made him feel furious.

"I think it would be a very wise idea." Jessica told him. "Robert has experience and is a wonderful leader."

"You can't just appoint him as managing partner though." Louis pointed out. "We have to vote on it, and I can tell you right now that I'm not voting for Robert. Sorry Robert."

"It's alright Louis." Robert assured him.

"The vote for managing partner will of course be tabled until a later time." Jessica announced. "But there is still one more thing that you should know."

"Great." Louis sighed. "What now?"

"In addition to Robert joining as a name partner, we are also adding Victoria's name up on the wall." Jessica smiled.

Harvey looked over at Victoria, who was looking at Robert and Jessica. Judging from the look of surprise on her face, she knew nothing about this.

"Oh c'mon!" Louis slammed his hands down on the table. "You have got to be kidding me! Is this Halloween? Are we just handing out name partner as a trick or treat prize now?"

"Enough Louis!" He looked over at the man and gave him a warning look.

"Harvey, even you have to admit that this is insane. I mean, I can maybe understand gaining Robert as a name partner because he has a good track record. But Victoria…we don't know anything about her and now she will suddenly have her name up on our firm's wall Who is next? The janitor?"

"Louis, that's enough." He warned in a soft voice.

"Oh my God. You're sleeping with her." Louis scoffed. "Of course. That's gotta be why this doesn't anger you."

"Louis, I swear to God you need to shut up or I won't be held responsible for what I do." He warned.

"Am I the only one here who knows and wants to abide by the by-laws for this firm?" Louis asked. "You can't just hand out managing partner and name partner like this, especially to one of Harvey's conquests. It's not fair."

"That's not what we are doing." Jessica sighed.

He watched as Victoria whispered something into Robert's ear. Robert nodded and then Victoria got up from her seat. He watched her exit the room. Before he could stop himself, he got up and followed her.

"Victoria!" He called after her. She stopped about halfway to the elevator. "I'm sorry about Louis. He doesn't know when to shut up sometimes."

"Louis doesn't bother me." She told him, turning around. "I have a pretty thick skin and comments like that from people like him don't faze me."

"So why did you leave the room?" He questioned.

"It's a lot to take in all at once." She explained. "I needed a moment."

"Yeah. That's understandable." He agreed. "Did you know that Robert was doing this?"

"No." She shook her head. "I had no idea. I knew something was going on but…this surprised me."

"So I can't help but wonder, what exactly is your relationship with Robert? Because he's giving you a great opportunity here…"

"Oh my God." She scoffed. "Are you seriously asking what I think you're asking?"

"I'm just curious because you haven't told me how you met him or anything."

"And you want to know if I've slept with him? Is that it?" She rolled her eyes. "No Harvey. I have never slept with Robert or even thought about it. He's my mentor and my friend. That's it. Unlike you, I don't sleep with everyone I meet."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I know all about your reputation for dating models and actresses. Although dating seems like a loose definition." She pointed out.

"Is this the point where I'm supposed to apologize for not living like a monk for the past twenty years?" He scoffed.

"Of course not." She shook her head. "You've always been free to sleep with whomever you want whenever you want."

He watched her turn around and head to the elevator, violently pushing the down button several times. "I am sorry about my comments." He apologized. "I didn't mean to imply…"

"Yes, you actually did." She interrupted him.

The door to the elevator opened and she got in. He was about to get in too when Robert appeared at his side.

"Goodnight Harvey." Robert said, getting into the elevator with Victoria.

He watched as the door closed. He would have to try and talk to her another time.


	18. Chapter 18

One Flight Down

Chapter Eighteen

"You're mad." Robert said.

"Your mastery of perceiving a woman's emotions is astounding. You should be very proud." She scoffed as the elevator started to go down towards the lobby.

"Are you mad at me or at Harvey? I noticed some tension when I walked up."

"Believe me, I've got enough anger for both of you." She informed him.

"Are you angry because I didn't tell you about what was going on earlier?"

"Wouldn't you be if you were in my position?" She asked, looking over at him. "I just got unnecessarily blindsided in there."

"I suppose it's possible I would be angry." He chuckled. "I'd also be grateful. Let's face it. It would have taken you at least another five to ten years to get from senior partner to name partner at Rand, Kaldor and Zane."

"And now you've just handed it to me on a silver platter." She shook her head. "Or passed it out like Halloween candy like Louis said."

"No, you've earned it." He corrected her. "Don't let what Louis said bother you. You have a great record and you've proven yourself to be a powerful ally. There's no one else I'd want in my corner once we move to this firm."

"If I move to this firm with you." She corrected him.

"Why the hell wouldn't you take this deal?" He questioned. "I thought this was what you wanted."

"It is." She sighed. "But you shouldn't have sprung this on me this way." She told him as the elevator doors opened. She walked into the lobby, aware that he was following her.

"Ok, maybe it wasn't the best idea to keep you in the dark. But I thought you would be excited about this opportunity."

"No one but you really wants me here as a name partner." She pointed out.

"They will come around. Louis is always high strung, but he will see that this is a good thing for the firm once he gets to know you. Let's be honest. They need some new blood injected to counteract the negativity they've encountered about Mike. He will see that once he calms down because he's a pragmatist and cares about the health of the firm." He laughed heartily. "And I bet Harvey will love it once the shock wears off because he'll have more time to try and flirt with you."

"That isn't funny." She shook her head as she got back into Robert's car and scooted to the other side so he could get in after her.

"Look, I know I probably should have talked to you about this before we went into that meeting. I'm sorry about that. It wasn't fair for you to be blindsided by everything. I wanted it to be a surprise though."

"It was definitely a surprise." She sighed. "I'm not sure I can follow you here."

"The thing is, I don't want to go to this firm without you. I need someone on my side that I can trust not to stab me in the back the first chance they get." He admitted.

"Rachel…"

"Rachel has been a loyal member of the Pearson Specter Litt family for years. She is married to Mike, who is like a brother to Harvey. She loves me but professionally she won't be on my side if she has to choose." He interrupted. "I need someone I can count on. You don't have that conflict so it will be easier for you to help me accomplish what needs to be done."

"I don't have that exact conflict, but…"

"Ok. What the hell is going on?" He asked in a softer tone. "You should be over the moon about becoming name partner because I know that was a goal of yours. So what's the problem?"

She sighed. It was only a matter of time before she had to tell Robert the whole truth about Harvey and it looked like now was that time. "I haven't been entirely forthcoming about something and I need you to not react when I tell you this."

"Let me guess. Did you already sleep with him?" Robert sighed.

"Yes." She answered honestly, knowing who Robert was talking about with the pronoun.

"I figured it was only a matter of time." Robert chuckled.

"Actually, I slept with him back in high school."

"What?" He questioned. "Did you find a time machine or something? Because this makes no sense to me."

The look of confusion on Robert's face would have been funny at any other time in any other situation. "You remember the guy I told you about from high school? The one I met in Boston?"

"You mean the one who almost destroyed you?"

"That's the one." She nodded. "I never told you what the guy's name was."

"Let me guess." Robert sighed. "The guys' name was Harvey Specter."

"Yes." She nodded.

"Shit." He sighed again. "You've been in love with him since high school. I don't suppose there is any chance that you've suddenly stopped loving him recently?"

"No." She shook her head. "Sometimes I wish to God I would because things would be so different, but no."

"Then it looks like you have a choice to make." He told her as they pulled up to her building. "Come to Pearson Specter Litt with me and be a kick-ass name partner or stay where you are. But I guarantee that if you stay there, you will never make name partner. Rand and Kaldor are notorious for holding grudges. They will be furious when they find out how many clients and associates I plan on poaching and they will unfortunately take it out on you."

She remained quiet for a moment.

"Think about it for a couple of days and let me know what you decide."

"I will." She nodded, getting out of the car and heading into her building.

* * *

"You really know how to liven up a partner meeting." Harvey told Jessica as he stood in her doorway.

"Well they can't all be boring meetings about budgets." She smiled. "Care for a drink?"

"You read my mind." He watched as she went over and poured them both a drink. He walked over and took his drink from her hand and then went over to look out the window. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'm sure." She said, coming to stand next to him.

"Is it because of Mike?" He asked softly. "Did I do this by bringing him here?"

"I would be lying if I said that the issues surrounding Mike didn't sway my decision, but it wasn't the deciding factor."

"What was?"

"When I came to this city I had big dreams. In the back of my mind I always doubted that I would accomplish everything I set out to do, but I surprised myself. I really have done everything I wanted here. And yes, a part of me is wanting to move to Chicago to be closer to Jeff. But is that so wrong? Everyone deserves to be with the one they love. Otherwise, what are we doing this for? Money? Power? There comes a time when that isn't enough. I've reached that time." She explained.

"You do deserve to be happy."

"So do you." She looked over at him. "Have you thought about telling Victoria how you feel about her?"

He looked at her like she was crazy. "How…"

"I know you pretty well by now. It's obvious to me that you care about her. I had my suspicions but they were confirmed when you walked out of the meeting tonight to chase after her. You only do that for people you care about." She told him. "It's actually nice to see. I wasn't sure it would ever happen."

"It doesn't matter. I can't tell her how I feel right now." He sighed. "Things are complicated."

"Things are always going to be complicated. That's what life is…a series of complicated events."

"But I hurt her in the past." He admitted. "And I'm just now realizing how badly I hurt her."

"You don't have to tell me specifics if you don't want." She assured him.

"She was my first love back in high school." He explained. "It ended badly because I was selfish and didn't put her first."

"Well you can't fix the past, but if you still care about her then you can fix the present." She advised.

"That's true." He nodded as they drank in silence.

"So what are you planning on doing in Chicago? You know, other than ruling the city like the natural Queen you are." He decided to change the topic back to her instead of his love life. "Are you going to start a new law firm?"

"No." She shook her head. "I've been there and done that. I'm thinking something bigger."

"Whatever it is, I know you'll be great and you'll conquer it." He told her.

"Thank you Harvey." She smiled. "I appreciate that you are being supportive about this."

"Doesn't mean I want you to go though." He admitted. "And it definitely doesn't mean I think Robert should be managing partner."

"Harvey, the firm is going to need someone who can steer this firm in the right direction and fend off all of the attacks that will come after my departure. You know that every firm will want to come after us even more after I leave."

"And you don't think I can take care of that? Do I need to remind you of all the other attacks on the firm that I have helped fend off?" He scoffed, drinking the entire contents of the glass.

"I think you could do it, but I don't think you really want to." She informed him. "Do you know how much work being managing partner truly is?"

"I'm not afraid of some hard work."

"I know that." She nodded. "But every day you make at least a dozen choices that you know people aren't going to agree with or like, even though those choices are critical to the success of the firm. You are the bad guy, the scapegoat for those who want to complain. And you don't have nearly as much time for your own cases. I think you would be a good managing partner, but you would be miserable. A large part of the job is smoothing out the egos of your fellow partners and associates. That's not your strong suit."

"I can make it my strong suit."

"I strongly believe that you should let Robert be managing partner. You can focus on being Harvey Goddamn Specter, the best closer in the city."

"I'll take it under advisement." He smirked.

"But you are still going to fight Robert for it." She guessed.

"Of course I am." He nodded.

"Ok. I know better than to try and talk you out of it once your mind is made up." She sighed. "Just don't let the fight get too bloody. No matter who wins, you both still have to work together."

He sighed. "Why did you have to bring him here? He hates me."

"He doesn't hate you." She laughed. "He just thinks you are an arrogant bastard who brings trouble everywhere you go."

"And what's the difference?" He chuckled.

"The difference is he never used the word hate." She smiled. "You'll be fine working with him."

"It won't be the same around here without you." He admitted.

"I'll miss you too." She said as she took a drink.

* * *

Victoria stood next to her window, holding her drink close to her chest. She was surprised by the events of this evening. She wondered in the back of her mind if Robert was thinking of leaving the firm, just based upon some of the comments he had made. But to go to Pearson Specter Litt and then make it so that she was a name partner too?

That was unexpected. He was right. She should be grateful. And she was. But at the same time she wasn't sure she deserved it. She knew that Louis didn't believe she deserved it. She wasn't even sure Harvey thought she deserved it, judging from the question about how well she knew Robert.

Harvey.

That was another thing she had to consider. Could she handle working with him, going to partner meetings and being in such close proximity to him all the time? She already lived in the same building as him. Now she was supposed to work in the same building? Could she?

Louis definitely wasn't happy about her possibly being a name partner. He made that perfectly clear tonight. Robert obviously wanted her to be a name partner since he orchestrated this. What Harvey thought was a mystery to her. Did he want her to work there with him?

And if he did, why? He had been extremely nice to her lately. She was certain he still had some kind of feelings for her, but what exactly were those feelings? This was a complicated situation and she just needed some time to think about it.

* * *

Harvey stood by his window, nursing another drink. After sharing a drink with Jessica he came home, resisting the urge to stop at Victoria's place first. She was likely still mad at him for what he implied and she had every right to be mad. It slipped out before he could stop himself. It wasn't like he actually thought that she would have slept with Robert. But he was curious about the dynamic between the two.

They seemed incredibly close.

He decided to give her some time to absorb everything that happened tonight before he went to talk to her. After all, this was one hell of a night. First he learned that Jessica is leaving. That's a huge blow, both to the firm and to himself. No matter what happened, he always knew that Jessica had his back and would come through for him if he needed help. After all, she had been helping him ever since he started in the mailroom all those years ago.

She knew what his limitations, strengths and weaknesses were. She knew when to push him and when to back off. The firm wouldn't be the same without her ruling with her iron pumps. His life wouldn't be the same either, especially if Robert became the managing partner.

The second blow of having Robert join the firm was frustrating to say the least. He wasn't sure he would be able to work with the man simply because he was convinced Robert didn't think much about him. They used to have a better relationship. But after the issues surrounding Mike, that went down the drain. And now with Victoria added into the mix, it was like Robert truly did hate him.

He had to make sure Robert didn't end up as managing partner. He was certain that he could count on Louis' vote because Louis didn't want Robert to join the firm in the first place. So that was two votes. The deciding vote would likely go to Victoria.

The fact that Robert was making her a name partner was both a good and bad thing. It would tether her to the firm and give him more time to win her over. But it was also going to complicate things.

He decided to think about it tomorrow.


	19. Chapter 19

One Flight Down

Chapter Nineteen

"So what's going on that has you so out of it today?" Donna asked as she stepped into his office.

"Get in and close the door." He commanded. "This can't leave the room."

"Of course." She scoffed, closing the door and sitting down across from his desk. "What's up?"

"Jessica is leaving the firm."

"What?" Donna exclaimed. "No. She wouldn't."

"She would and she is." He explained. "She is going to move to Chicago once the class action suit is over."

"Wow." Donna marveled. "How are you doing with that news?"

"I've been better." He sighed. "But that's not the only bombshell that was dropped."

"What else could there be?" Donna laughed.

"Robert Zane is joining the firm in Jessica's absence." He told her.

"Really? Does Rachel know about that yet?"

"I'm not sure." He shrugged. "But you can't talk to her about it in case she doesn't know. This all stays between us for now."

"Ok." Donna nodded.

"Jessica wants Robert to be the new managing partner." He scoffed. "Can you believe that? She doesn't think I should do it."

"Did she give a reason?" Donna asked.

"She thinks he will be able to lead the firm better than me." He sighed. "Can you believe that?"

"Well he does have more experience…"

"So you don't believe in me either?" That wasn't the response he expected from her. He thought she would have his back on this matter. Apparently he was wrong though.

"I will always believe in you, Harvey." She told him. "I'm just not sure that you will want to be managing partner."

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

"It's a lot." She explained.

"So you and Jessica both think I would fail."

"I don't think you would fail. I just don't think you would be happy." She clarified.

"Fine." He didn't want to continue to talk about this anymore. "Also, you should know that Robert has insisted that Victoria join the firm too."

"I figured that would happen." Donna nodded.

"He wants her to be a name partner."

"Excuse me? What?"

"We were all surprised by that too." He explained.

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"That is an interesting development." Donna stated.

"It certainly is." He agreed.

"I know you have a history with her, but do you honestly think she deserves to have her name put up on the wall?" Donna asked.

He sighed. He'd thought about it last night and again this morning. While he knew from working with her that she was a brilliant lawyer, he just didn't know enough about her career to know if she deserved it or not. Robert certainly thought she did, and Jessica must have as well to let Robert dictate those terms.

"Honestly? I just don't know." He hated to admit it, but it was the truth.

* * *

Victoria stood on Harvey's doorstep with her hand raised to knock. She had been standing there for several minutes, willing herself to follow through. She had been thinking about everything all night and then all day today. The only realization she had was that she needed to talk to Harvey. Finding the courage to do it was the only issue.

"This is ridiculous." She whispered to herself as she knocked on his door. It took a few seconds before he answered. His suit jacket and tie were off but otherwise he was still in his work clothes. "Hi."

"Hi." He smiled.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course." He stepped out of the way so she could come inside. "Would you like a drink?"

"Sure." She said, watching him head over to make it. "Thank you."

"I actually wanted to talk to you last night, but I thought maybe it would be better to give you some time." He explained as he handed her the drink.

"Your instincts were right about that." She laughed.

"Well first of all, I'm sorry again about what I asked about you and Robert. It wasn't right of me. I was no better than Louis with his comments. I know it's no excuse but I was caught off guard by the news of Jessica leaving and it threw me off. She's been my mentor for so long. We've been through quite a lot with the firm. It's hard for me to imagine the firm without her there."

"She's your Robert." She stated.

He smiled. "Exactly. But I shouldn't have implied anything went on between you two."

"I appreciate you realizing that." She nodded. "And I'm sorry for throwing your reputation in your face like that."

"It's ok." He chuckled. "I know I don't have the best reputation when it comes to women, but it has been grossly over exaggerated. I may go on a lot of dates, but I don't sleep with all of them."

"Either way it really isn't any of my business." She shrugged. "And for the record, I met Robert at a law conference. He's been an amazing mentor and friend. Though if I'm completely honest, he's almost like a replacement father figure to me. I'd do anything for him."

"Which is probably why he wants you follow him while he switches firms." He reasoned aloud. "It makes sense."

"But I'm not sure yet if I'm following him to your firm."

"Why not? This is a great opportunity for you."

"Part of it has to do with the fact that Louis isn't happy about it." She pointed out.

"Louis is easily excitable. He says things without thinking. Once he gets to know you, things will settle down."

"He doesn't think I deserve name partner." She reminded him.

"He'll get over it." He assured her.

"And what about you?" She asked, genuinely interested in his opinion. "Do you think I deserve this? I mean, this is your firm too that we are talking about. I'm sure you have an opinion, right?"

She looked at his face and could tell that she caught him off-guard.

"I…I want you to get everything that you want. I would assume that includes becoming a name partner."

"What kind of bullshit answer is that?" She didn't understand what he was trying to say with that. It seemed like the kind of non-committal answer you give when you don't want to hurt someone's feelings by telling the truth.

"It's not bullshit." He said, getting defensive. "It's the truth. If you want name partner, I want you to have it."

"But do you want me to have it at your firm?" She pressed further.

"I'd definitely love to be able to work with you more." He admitted.

"Why?" She put her drink down on the counter. It was a dangerous game to press him for an explanation but she needed to know where they stood. She was thinking about it last night and all of today. If she was going to work with him at the same firm, then she needed to know where they stood.

"Why?" He repeated the question.

She knew she had caught him off guard. "Why do you want to work with me more?"

"Because you're you."

She wasn't sure what kind of answer that was, but it wasn't the one she was expecting or hoping for at this point. He was dodging the original question of whether he thought she deserved it, which led her to believe maybe he shared Louis' opinion that she didn't deserve name partner.

"Can I ask you a question now?"

"Sure." She shrugged.

"Do you ever wonder what our lives would have been like if I hadn't broken up with you that day?"

She closed her eyes for a moment. That was an unexpected question. "Why would you ask me that now?"

"Please humor me." He grinned.

"Fine." She sighed. "Of course I've wondered what our lives would have been like."

"What do you think would have happened?"

"Harvey…I'm not sure I want to talk about this…"

"Please?" He asked. "I'm curious."

"But it didn't happen. So why torment yourself with what could have been when you can instead focus on what actually did happen?" She questioned.

"Can I tell you what I think would have happened?"

She realized there was no way out of this conversation. "Knock yourself out."

"I think we would have gone to college together and gotten married. You would have become a doctor and I'd become a lawyer. We would have at least two kids and a big house. Maybe even a dog. We'd both be at the top of our fields and would be one of those rare power couples who had both love and success." He explained.

That was what she thought would have happened too. Back in high school she thought that there was a good chance they would end up getting married. At the time she could see herself spending the rest of her life with him. "But that's not what happened." She corrected him.

"No, it isn't." He agreed. "Because I screwed it all up. What's the other reason you aren't sure you want to take the offer?" He asked after a moment. "You said part of it was Louis."

"I'm not sure I want to work with you." She said, being entirely truthful.

"Why not?" He scoffed. "I thought we were doing a good job of reconnecting and being friends."

"We are." She nodded. "But I think it might be hard for me to see you every day and have to work with you."

"Why?" He asked softly.

This was it. This was the moment she had been dreading but the moment she knew had to come sooner or later. She had to know one way or another. She took a deep breath. "Because I never really ever got over you." She watched his face for any kind of a reaction but saw nothing. His face didn't change one bit and she wondered what he was thinking.

As the moments ticked by, she figured it out by his continued silence. She turned to leave, only stopping when he grabbed her wrist. "Harvey…"

"Shh." He whispered.

He pulled her close and started to kiss her. At first she was surprised but then she wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to get as close to him as possible. He maneuvered them so that she was pressed up against the wall. But she wasn't complaining.

There were alarm bells ringing in her head, telling her that she needed to stop this before they went too far. Sex with him wasn't something she was ready for because she knew that once it happened there was absolutely no going back. She would be ruined forever with absolutely no chance of ever moving past him.

They kissed for what felt like hours, though it was only a few minutes before they had to come up for air.

He pulled away first, caressing her cheek with his hand. The look in his eye as he stared into hers was almost primal. That was the only way she could explain it. What she couldn't explain was if he was simply just attracted to her or if it went deeper than that. After all, he was just talking about how he thought that after high school they would have had a future together. But that was then and she wasn't sure she should trust some idealized vision he had concocted in his head.

It seemed like neither of them wanted to say something first so they stood there silently. Finally she couldn't take it anymore. "So…that happened."

"Yeah." He grinned. "Wanna do it again?"

She couldn't help but smile and chuckle softly. She did want to kiss him again, but one kiss was all she could trust herself right now. "Actually, I should go."

"Actually you should stay." He said, his grin spreading wider.

"I'll get in too much trouble if I stay." She said honestly.

"A little trouble can be good." He replied without missing a beat. "Besides, shouldn't we talk about what you said and that kiss?"

"We should…" She acknowledged. "But not tonight. Goodnight Harvey." Without giving him a chance to argue, she slipped away and sprinted towards the door.


	20. Chapter 20

One Flight Down

Chapter Twenty

The next morning, Harvey stretched out before opening his eyes. He suddenly remembered what happened last night and smiled as he turned over. She had basically admitted that she still had feelings for him and that made him feel like he was on cloud nine.

Jessica was right when she said he cared about Victoria. He cared about her deeply. If he was honest with himself, he never stopped caring about her. It was probably the reason why he couldn't let himself fall in love with anyone else. He couldn't even fall in love with Scottie, and she was an amazing woman. But the most he could feel for Scottie at any time was infatuation. It never moved to love.

For the past twenty years he had buried his feelings for Victoria, telling himself that it was all in the past and their relationship was simply young love. He convinced himself that he didn't love her…didn't need her…and that he could let her go.

But seeing her again…talking to her…getting to know her again…it reignited his feelings for her and stirred something up inside of him that was dormant for a long time.

His original plan was to wait. He planned on getting to know her again for a while and then trying to date her. But when she told him last night that she never got over him, he couldn't help himself. He had to kiss her again.

Now though, in the cold light of day, he wondered if he had just scared her off. He could go downstairs and see if she would let him into her place so they could talk. But something told him he needed to give her some time to process this.

* * *

"If I was a paranoid man, I'd say you were avoiding me."

Victoria looked up and saw Robert standing in her doorway. She gave him a small smile. "Now why would I be doing that?"

"Gee, I don't know." He closed her door and sat down across from her. "Maybe it has something to do with the other night?"

"I'm not avoiding you." She assured him. There was only one guy she was actively avoiding right now, and Robert wasn't him.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"No." She shook her head. "I got over that pretty quickly."

"I'm glad to hear it." He grinned. "So have you thought any more about the offer from the other night?"

"I have." She nodded. "I'm still not convinced that this is the best idea in the world, but I'll join you."

He smiled widely and clapped his hands together. "I knew you wouldn't let me down! This is wonderful news."

She smiled too. "I'm sorry if I acted ungrateful. I do appreciate that you want me to go with you. I just…"

"I understand." He nodded. "I may have went about it the wrong way. But I believe in you and I think you'll be an excellent name partner."

"I'm not going to be your yes man though, so if that's what you hoped for then you will be sorely mistaken." She warned him.

"Since when have you ever been a yes man?" He laughed. "I know better than that."

She smiled as there was a knock on the door.

"Sorry to interrupt." Stacy, her secretary said, putting a vase of flowers on the desk. "These just arrived for you."

"Thank you." Although there was an envelope with a card, she already knew who had sent these. There was only one person who would send her tulips in every color imaginable. Harvey. She grabbed the envelope and shoved it into her desk drawer.

"You aren't even going to look at who they are from?" Robert chuckled.

"Don't need to." She shook her head. "I already know."

"Ah, I get it." Robert nodded. "So are you and Harvey going to become a thing now?"

"I honestly don't know what's going to happen." She replied with a deep sigh. "But if we do, does that change anything?"

"No." He assured her. "I trust that you can remain professional."

"Thanks." She smiled. "That means a lot to me."

"I just want you to be careful." He cautioned.

"I will."

"Anyway, now that I know you are going to take name partner, why don't you come over tonight for dinner? I'll grill out some steaks and we can celebrate." He offered.

"That actually sounds nice. Is Laura alright with that?"

"It was actually Laura's idea." Robert chuckled. "She told me this morning that you would say yes about following me and I was not supposed to take no for an answer about dinner tonight."

"In that case, what time should I arrive?" She chuckled.

"How about 7?"

"Sounds good." She nodded. "I'll bring the wine."

"Wonderful." He smiled, getting up. "You aren't going to regret this."

"I know." She told him. After he left, the smile on her face faded. There was a part of her that felt like she might end up regretting this.

She opened the desk drawer and brought out the envelope while staring at the flowers on her desk.

" _Wow, look at you." Linda marveled._

 _Victoria came down the last step and twirled around for her mom. "You think it looks ok?" She had put on black skirt and a red top with a scoop neckline._

" _I think you look great. What is the occasion?"_

" _Harvey is picking me up soon for a date." She smiled._

" _Harvey?" Linda chuckled. "Well, I was wondering how long it would take that boy to finally ask you out on a date."_

" _Actually mom…" She laughed. "I asked him out."_

" _You did?" Linda asked._

" _Yes." She nodded. "We have been hanging out every day for a month now. I got tired of waiting for him to make the first move."_

" _Well good for you, sweetie. Girl power and all that stuff."_

" _Mom, just stop." She laughed. "You're embarrassing yourself."_

" _Fine." Linda shrugged. "Don't be out too late tonight."_

" _I won't." She promised as the doorbell rang. "Gotta go!"_

 _She opened the door and found Harvey standing there with a bouquet of tulips. "Hi."_

" _Hi." He smiled. "These are for you."_

" _Tulips." She took the flowers._

" _I hope they are alright." He said nervously. "I thought I remembered you saying that they were your favorite. Was I right?"_

" _You were right. I love them." She smiled. "Thank you."_

Apparently, after all this time he still remembered that they were her favorite. She opened the envelope and read the card.

 _Vic,_

 _I hope these made you smile. I'd like to talk about last night._

 _H_

She stared at the card and thought back to what happened last night after she got back to her place.

 _She entered her place and kicked off her heels, heading straight for the window. When she went to Harvey's she didn't plan on kissing him like that. She just planned on telling him that she wasn't sure she was going to join his firm and she had hoped that he would apologize for his shitty comments about her and Robert._

 _He did apologize about his comments. And somehow she ended up finding herself admitting to him that she still had feelings for him. To be honest though, it was probably a good thing that she got that out of the way and told him. No matter what, at least she was honest._

 _She knew she had to follow Robert to Harvey's firm. Aside from her loyalty to Robert, becoming name partner was too good of an offer to pass up. But she worried about what kind of issues a possible relationship with Harvey would bring into her life._

 _Louis already thought she was getting name partner because she was a conquest of Harvey's. Being in a relationship with him now would only cement that in Louis' mind. She didn't need Louis to like her or be her best friend. But if she was going to be a name partner with him, he needed to respect her. Being Harvey's girlfriend wasn't going to help win his respect._

 _And then there was the fact that Robert wasn't a fan of Harvey's. She felt like there was going to be a point where she had to choose between them, and that scared her._

 _She loved Harvey. She always had and there was no doubt in her mind that she always would. But did he love her? Did he even want a relationship? Or was this just a way for him to have sex with her again? Some way to satisfy some long term curiosity about their compatibility?_

 _It was giving her a headache. She decided to go to bed and deal with it in the morning._

Harvey wanted to talk about what happened. She knew that he would. But he would just have to wait because she wasn't sure she was ready to talk about it.

* * *

Harvey knocked on Victoria's door that night. He was a little worried because it was getting late and there was no response. He wondered if she was still at the office.

"Hey." Came a voice from behind him.

He turned around to see Victoria standing there. "Hey."

"What are you doing here?" She asked, passing by him to unlock her door.

"I wanted to talk to you. I've actually come down a couple of times tonight but you weren't home yet."

"Yeah." She nodded. "That's because I went to Robert's house for dinner tonight."

"Ah." He nodded. "I bet that was fun."

"It was." She chuckled. "Do you want to come in so we can talk?"

"If you don't mind."

"C'mon." She ushered him into her place. After she closed the door, she threw her purse on the counter and took her heels off. "Thank you for the tulips. I was surprised that you remembered."

"I remember a lot of things." He smiled. "I'm just glad that you liked them."

They stood there in silence for a moment before he decided to address the elephant in the room. "So last night happened…"

"Yeah." She nodded. "It did."

"And then you left before we could talk about it."

"Yes, I did."

She looked nervous about this conversation and he understood. He was nervous too. But they needed to talk about it so he pressed forward. "Victoria, I…"

"I'm coming with Robert to your firm." She interrupted him.

He was annoyed for a moment that she interrupted him until he realized what she said. Then he smiled. "Really?"

"Really." She nodded. "It's a wonderful opportunity and I'd be a fool to turn it down. Besides, I also don't want to disappoint Robert."

His smile fell a little after hearing her reasoning for joining the firm. "Are those all of the reasons?"

"Harvey, I'm not going to join a firm just because of a guy. I've never been that girl and I never will be. Whatever this between us might be, it has nothing to do with my decisions about my professional life." She explained.

"Whatever this between us might be?" He scoffed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "It was only one kiss."

"I thought it meant more than that." He admitted. "But I guess I was wrong, and I should have known I was wrong when you bolted for the door the first chance you got."

"Harvey…"

"It's fine." He didn't want to be there anymore and tried to make his way to her door so he could leave. But he was surprised when she threw her body against the door at the last second. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to keep you from leaving." She grinned. "Is it working?"

"I could just pick you and move you so I could leave." He informed her.

"You probably could." She admitted. "Or you could stay and have a drink with me."

He couldn't find the words to refuse that offer. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to her drink cart. He stayed silent as she poured them drinks. It was only after she gave him his that he said anything. "I guess I should make a toast for your promotion."

"You don't have to." She shook her head.

"I want to." He assured her. "To the newest name partner."

They clinked glasses before they both took a drink.

"Harvey, when I said that earlier…I know I hurt your feelings and I didn't mean to."

"It's fine."

"No it isn't." She insisted. "I just…I don't know what this all means."

"I don't know either." He admitted. "But I was hoping we could talk it through and figure it out together."

"Ok." She consented, pointing to her couch. "Let's sit down and discuss this like adults."

"Ok." He went over to the couch and sat down, watching as she sat on the other side. "Why did you leave like that?"

"You really want to dive in with the hard questions." She chuckled. "Well, I could lie. But the truth is I was scared."

"Of what?" He asked softly.

"You name it, I'm probably scared of it." She shrugged. "I didn't come over last night with the intention of kissing you. It just kind of happened."

"I'm glad it happened." He stated. "But do you regret it?"

He watched as she slowly shook her head.

"No. I don't regret it." She replied softly. "Do you regret it?"

"I could never regret that." He answered.

"I just don't know what it means." She said. "What do you want it to mean?"

"I want it to mean that we are together again." He replied honestly. "I want it mean that we start dating. I want you. I never really got over you either."

He thought that maybe by laying all of his cards on the table and repeating her words back to her would help in some way.

"Really?" She started to smile.

"Yes." He nodded. "Is that alright with you?"

"It's more than alright with me." She said. "So what do we do now?"

"I think the first step is for me to ask you out." He grinned. "Victoria, would you like to go out with me?"

"I would like that." She smiled.

"Great." He nodded. "How about tomorrow night?"

She laughed. "You don't waste any time."

"I've already wasted twenty years. I don't want to waste any more time."

"In that case, tomorrow night sounds good."

"Wonderful." He couldn't help but smile even wider.


	21. Chapter 21

One Flight Down

Chapter Twenty-One

Harvey looked out at Donna's desk and saw that she wasn't there. Since the coast was clear, he realized he could make his phone call without worrying about her listening in to his conversation. He picked up his phone and tapped his phone to connect the call.

"What's up, loser?" Marcus greeted.

"Is that any way to greet your big brother?" He laughed. "Where is the respect?"

"Oh. Sorry. What's up, Mr. Big Important Loser?" Marcus laughed. "Is that better?"

"Much." He rolled his eyes.

"So is everything ok?" Marcus asked, his voice taking a more serious tone. "You don't usually call me, and especially not in the middle of the day."

"I know." Marcus' assumption that something was wrong simply because he called made him realize he needed to reach out to his brother more often. He would try to work on that. "How is everyone?"

"We're all good. What's going on, Harvey?"

"I would like your advice on something." After saying it, there was silence for several moments. "Marcus? Are you still there?"

"Yeah." Marcus finally spoke. "I think I just blacked out for a moment from shock. I had a hallucination where you were asking for my advice."

"It wasn't a hallucination." He sighed. "I actually am asking for your advice. I need your help."

"I think this is a first, big bro. You've never asked for my help before. It's always been the other way around."

"So you admit that you owe me and should stop poking fun at the situation because I've saved your ass so many other times?" He joked.

"Touché." Marcus sighed. "What can I do for you?"

"I have a date with Victoria tonight and I don't know where to take her or what we should do." He said it quickly because he was actually kind of embarrassed to be asking his little brother for dating advice. But he has racked his brain last night trying to think of the perfect thing for them to do on their date and came up empty. He thought about asking Mike, but realized he would never live it down. He would have gone to Donna about it, but Marcus knew Victoria so he thought Marcus was the better choice.

"Hold up." Marcus exclaimed. "You what?"

"I have a date with Victoria." He repeated.

"Well it's about time!"

He couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Did she have to ask you out again or did you man up and ask her this time?"

"I asked her." He scoffed.

"And now you don't know what to do?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be calling you." He sighed.

"Well that's easy." Marcus laughed. "What did you two do on your first date back in high school?"

He remembered it like it was yesterday. They went to a small pizza place and then went to the Charles River Esplanade so they could walk along the riverfront. They even stopped and watched some of the sailboats. It was a fun night.

"Whatever you did that night, you should try to recreate in some way tonight." Marcus continued. "It shows her you remember the past. Pay homage to your history."

He had to admit that was a fairly good idea.

"Are you still there?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah." He spoke up.

"What do you think?"

"I think I hate to admit it, but it's not a terrible idea."

"I do actually have a few good ideas every once in a while." Marcus laughed. "But look, I have to go. I have a meeting in a few minutes. I hope tonight goes well."

"Thanks." He said.

"Anytime bro. And if she is giving you a second chance, don't mess it up this time. I'd still like to have Victoria as a sister someday."

"I'll do my best. Bye Marcus." He promised before hanging up.

Marcus' suggestion was so simple. He couldn't believe he didn't think of it first. He now knew exactly where he would take her tonight.

* * *

Victoria looked at the clock and sighed. Her date with Harvey was tonight and she needed to leave soon in order to have enough time to get ready. She had intended on getting all of her work done early. The only problem with that was she found it hard to concentrate on anything for long.

"Hey." Katrina greeted, coming into the office.

"Hi." She didn't look up as she continued typing.

"What are you working so hard on?"

"Just trying to get some stuff done before I leave." She explained.

"How about we grab some drinks tonight?" Katrina suggested. "It's been a while since we have done that."

"Can I take a raincheck?" She asked, looking up at her friend.

"Why?" Katrina chuckled. "You got a hot date tonight?"

She chuckled nervously.

"Oh my God…you do! Tell me everything!"

"No." She shook her head. There was no way shew as going to tell Katrina that her date was with Harvey.

"So you have a date with a mystery man and you won't tell me anything about him?"

"That's right." She nodded.

"Not even a name?" Katrina laughed.

"Nope." She shook her head.

"Well that's no fun." Katrina pretended to pout. "How am I supposed to live vicariously through you if you won't share details?"

"You'll manage somehow." She promised her friend.

"Fine." Katrina smiled. "Well I hope your evening goes well."

"Thanks." She smiled back.

"I'll let you get back to work but I am holding you to your offer of a raincheck. "

"I would expect nothing less." She said. To be honest, she was incredibly nervous about this date. While they had been spending time together the past couple of weeks, it was as friends. Tonight was as more than friends. What if it was awkward and uncomfortable? What if that spark wasn't there anymore? Or what if the spark was still there?

There were too many what ifs. She was driving her crazy. Looking back at the clock, she gave herself another twenty minutes before she left to get ready.

* * *

Harvey stood at Victoria's door and took a deep breath. He wasn't the type to get nervous. He had a calm demeanor normally and usually nothing rattled him. But tonight's date had him rattled. Truthfully, he never thought this night would happen. But he was glad he was wrong. He raised his hand and knocked on the door.

It only took a moment for Victoria to open the door. When he saw her, he could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat. She looked beautiful wearing a teal colored halter dress.

"Hi." She said.

"Um…hello." He smiled. "You look great."

"Thanks." She smiled. "You don't look half bad yourself."

"Ah, this old thing?" He joked, pointing to his black sweater and tan pants. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure." She nodded,

He held out his arm for her to take and she linked hers with his as they left her place and walked towards the elevator. "Are you ready for the best second first date ever?"

She laughed. "The best? You are really setting the bar up high for tonight."

"What can I say?" He laughed. "Life is like this." He lifted his free hand up.

"And you like this." She completed the saying, lifting her free hand up higher than his.

"You remembered." He smiled.

"Of course." She smirked as they entered the elevator. "You said it all the time."

"Yeah, I guess I did." He chuckled.

"So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." He taunted.

* * *

Victoria looked over at Harvey as they waited for their food. Ray had driven them to a small pizzeria. She remembered their original first date and the pizza place they went to. It was sweet he was trying to recreate that.

"I hope the pizza here is alright." He told her. "I haven't actually been here before."

"I'm sure it's fine." She chuckled. "I mean, how can you mess up pizza? It's not hard to make."

"Yeah." He laughed. "Do you mind that dinner isn't somewhere fancier?"

"Not at all." She smiled at him. He seemed nervous and she understood why. She had been incredibly nervous all day. But now that she was here with him and she saw how nervous he was too…it calmed her nervous. "I don't really care where we go. The only thing that matters to me is being here with you."

He smiled back at her with a more relaxed face and she knew she had made him feel better.

"Here you go." The server said, placing the pizza and two plates down between them. "One meat lovers supreme. Let me know if there is anything else I can get you."

"Thanks." He said, handing her a plate. "Ladies first."

"How chivalrous." She took a piece of pizza and started to eat it. One bite and she regretted it.

"What?" He asked.

She hurried up and chewed so she could swallow the bite. Then she took a long drink. "Remember when I said how can you mess up pizza? Well this is a prime example of how you can mess up pizza."

"C'mon." He laughed. "It can't be that bad."

"Ok. You try it then."

"Ok." He nodded. "I will."

She watched him take a bite. At first his face didn't betray him. But then once he started chewing, he made a pained face. She waited until he was done and had taken a drink before laughing. "See what I mean?"

"You are right. That is horrible." He laughed. "I'm sorry for bringing us here."

"It's alright." She assured him, reaching over and grabbing his hand. "You couldn't have known."

"So what do you want to do now?"

"Anything, as long as I don't have to eat the rest of this." She told him honestly.

"Deal." He smiled. "You want to get out of here?"

"Yes please." She laughed. She watched him lay down enough money to cover their dinner and then followed him out of the pizzeria. "Where to now? Should we wait for Ray to come pick us up?"

"We aren't too far from where the next stop was." He informed her. "Do you want to just walk there?"

"Sure." She nodded. They started to walk.

"I feel horrible about the pizza place." He told her as they walked down the street together.

"You shouldn't." She assured him. "They should be the ones who feel horrible about butchering pizza like that."

He laughed. "Are you still hungry? Because I am."

"I am too." She admitted. "And one of the good things I have found out about this city is that you are never too far away from a food truck."

"You don't mind eating from a food truck?"

"Not at all." She laughed. "Why would I?"

"I just boasted that this would be the best second first date ever. And it hasn't turned out that way yet."

"I don't know about that." She shrugged. "I'm having a good time."

"You're incredible."

"I'm also hungry." She smiled. "Can we stop at this food truck up here?" She pointed ahead.

"Yeah." He laughed. "We can."


	22. Chapter 22

One Flight Down

Chapter Twenty-Two

Harvey looked over at Victoria. They had stopped at a food truck called The Jolly Pig and had both gotten pulled pork sandwiches. It was a better meal than the pizza and they were eating their sandwiches while walking towards their second stop.

He hated the fact that this night wasn't going the way he wanted or planned. He really wanted to make this night special. Fortunately she didn't seem to be too fazed by it. If the number of times she laughed and the number of smiles were any indication, she was actually having a good time.

"Oh, here we are." He stopped and pointed.

"These are just stairs." She pointed out. "Where do they lead to?"

"Have you ever been to the High Line?" He asked.

"No." She shook her head. "What is that?"

"Come with me and I'll show you." He started to climb the stairs and looked back to make sure she was following him.

"Alright." She smiled, catching up to him.

"The High Line is a public park that was built on elevated rails as part of a community project to give every New Yorker a chance to experience nature and art." He explained as they made their way up there.

"Sounds interesting."

"I thought we could explore it together." He told her.

"Have you ever been here before?"

"No. I've just heard about it." He shook his head as he threw his trash from dinner in a nearby trash can. Donna had told him about it once because she went with one of her friends to see an art exhibit. When Marcus suggested he recreate their first date in some way, he immediately thought of this place.

"So this could be another pizza situation?" She laughed.

"Yeah, I guess it could." He joined her in laughing. "But I doubt it. I have it on very good authority that this place is good."

"Ok. Count me in." She smiled, getting rid of her trash too. "Sounds like fun."

* * *

They came upon a nature area. "What is this place?" She asked.

"This I believe is the Chelsea Thicket." He told her as they stopped and looked around. "They planted all of this to counteract the steel."

"Makes sense." She nodded. "It's beautiful here."

"Yeah." He nodded.

She grabbed a hold of his hand as they started walking again, exploring the trail. "I'm really glad we are doing this."

"I'm glad you are enjoying this place." He told her.

"I am, but I was actually referring to just going on this date in general." She chuckled. "I have to admit that I thought tonight might be awkward or something."

"I worried about that too." He admitted. "But it isn't. In fact, in some ways it's like we never stopped dating."

"Yeah." She smiled as they stopped walking. "I agree."

He smiled at her and took a step towards her. She watched as he leaned in. She knew he was about to kiss her. There was no way she was going to stop him. The kiss was a gentle peck, hesitant and over way too quickly. She smiled at him afterwards and then leaned in to kiss him properly.

He wrapped his arm around her waist as she threaded her hands through his hair.

"We should probably stop since we are in public." He whispered once they parted.

"Good thinking." She smirked. "Maybe we should get back to exploring."

"Probably." He smirked, grabbing her hand.

* * *

They continued to walk for a while until they came upon an area with tables.

"Let's sit." She suggested, pointing to an empty table. Once they sat down, she looked over at him. "Harvey, don't take this the wrong way but what are we doing?"

He laughed. "I thought we were having a good time."

"We are." She assured him. "I meant, what are we? Are we dating now?"

"I hope so." He smiled. "I want to date you."

"And I want to date you." She smiled back. "But I think before things go too far, we need to talk about some ground rules."

He chuckled. "Ground rules?"

"Yes." She nodded, aware of the confused look on his face. "We need ground rules. Things are going to get complicated once Robert and I join your firm. Ground rules should help with that transition."

"Ok I'm curious. What exactly did you have in mind?"

"I think we should take things slowly." She explained. "Tonight has proven to me that it would be far too easy to fall back into our old relationship."

"What does that mean?"

"It would be too easy for me dive back in and act like nothing has changed." She explained. "But things have changed. A lot of time has gone by."

"I know that." He nodded.

He was quiet for a moment and she wondered what he was thinking. She hoped he would understand. Tonight was going very well, but she was being completely honest when she said it would be too easy to fall back into their old relationship. She wanted nothing more than to take him back to her place and have sex all night. But that wasn't the right thing to do right now. They needed to rebuild a solid foundation before going too far.

"Ok. I can see where you are coming from and we can take things as slowly as you want."

"Thank you." She smiled. "I appreciate that."

"Any other ground rules I should know about?" He chuckled.

"We should keep our professional and personal lives completely separate." She explained. "We shouldn't flirt, show PDA or give off any clue that we are together while working."

"That isn't going to be easy for me." He admitted.

"It's not going to be easy for me either but I think we can manage it though."

"Ok." He sighed. "Anything else?"

"I don't think we should tell anyone about us dating for a while." This was something she thought was a good idea but she wasn't sure he would be ok with doing it.

"Why not?" He scoffed playfully. "Are you that ashamed of me?"

She smirked. "No. Of course not! I just…I don't think we should advertise it. Look, Louis already thinks I don't deserve to be a name partner. I don't think that me dating you is going to do much to make him respect me."

"It shouldn't matter what Louis thinks though." He pointed out.

"Maybe." She conceded. "But it matters to me. And it's not just Louis. The majority of people in your firm don't know anything about me. I don't want the first thing they find out about me to be that I am dating another name partner."

"It's not that big of a deal."

"Maybe not for you." She sighed. "You are a man so no one really cares. But women…we have to be careful about the kind of reputation we get. It's not fair but it's the truth. Women get judged when they date someone at work and if it doesn't work out between us then…"

"You think it won't work out?" He interrupted her.

"You're focusing on the wrong part of that statement."

"Well you apparently believe we won't last."

"We didn't the last time." That statement left her mouth before she could stop it. She immediately regretted it because she saw the pained look on his face. He recovered quickly though and it turned to anger.

"So you haven't truly forgiven me for breaking up with you." He sighed. "Have you?"

"I shouldn't have brought it up."

"But you did." He pointed out. "What are these rules really about?"

"I already told you…"

"I know what you said." He interrupted. "I want to know what you haven't said."

She looked at him weirdly. "What does that mean?"

"I think these rules are a way for you to protect yourself because you think history is going to repeat itself and we're going to break up again…more specifically you think I'm going to break up with you." He explained.

She sighed. He was right. That was something she worried about, but it wasn't the sole reason for her rules. She really did believe in the reasons she gave him. But she would be lying if she said she wasn't also worried about them breaking up again.

"Can you blame me for being worried about that?" She asked quietly.

"No. I guess now. But I wasn't lying when I said I still have feelings for you." He told her. "I can't tell you what is going to happen in the future, but I know that I have very strong feelings for you."

"And I have strong feelings for you." She told him. "At the same time, we aren't the same people as before. We have to face the facts that there is a chance we won't work out."

"And you would rather not have everyone know we even dated in the first place if we end up breaking up?" He scoffed, getting up from the table.

She got up and faced him. "Harvey, this really isn't about you or even us. It's about me and what I feel comfortable with. I've dated guys I work with before and it always ends up becoming a mess. With our past and the fact that we're going to be working together soon, I'd rather no one know about us until we have a nice, solid foundation for our relationship."

"I thought the fact that we dated before gave us a good foundation."

"It gives us a head start." She smiled. "Can we please not fight about this? Fighting is the last thing I want to do with you."

"I don't want to fight with you either but…"

"I'm not saying we have to keep this relationship a secret for years. Just let's get through the merger and let me establish my own position in the firm before we go around telling anyone. Please?"

She watched his face as he considered it. He finally took her hand in his. That's when she knew he was going to agree.

"And this is really that important to you?" He asked.

"Yes." She nodded.

"I don't like the thought of keeping this a secret." He said. "But I do like the thought of making you happy. So I guess I can go along with this."

"Thank you." She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.

"In the interest of full disclosure, I kind of already told Marcus about our date tonight."

"Alright." She nodded. "I can live with that."

* * *

He walked her to her door at the end of the evening, holding her hand as they went down the hallway. "I'm sorry tonight didn't go as planned."

"I still had fun though." She smiled.

He had fun too, except for their discussion that got heated. He hated that she thought he might break up with her again. But he could understand where she was coming from. If abiding by her rules would make her more comfortable and enable him to keep dating her, then he would abide by her rules. That didn't mean he was happy about them though.

He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I know you want to go slow, but is there any way I can convince you to go out with me again tomorrow night?"

She smiled. "You certainly don't waste any time."

"I don't see the point in wasting time with something I want." He told her honestly.

"I think I was going to stay in and wash my hair tomorrow night." She teased him. "But going out with you would be more fun."

"I'd be worried if washing your hair was more fun than going out with me." He laughed. "So I'll call you tomorrow and we can finalize plans?"

"I'd like that." She nodded.

"Goodnight Victoria." He placed one last kiss on her lips.

She unlocked her door and went inside. "Goodnight Harvey."

He watched her close the door and smiled.


	23. Chapter 23

One Flight Down

Chapter Twenty-Three

The next morning Harvey exited his building and found Ray waiting for him like always. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Ray greeted, opening the car door for him. "You look happy this morning. Is it fair to say that Miss Sullivan has put that smile on your face?"

"That would be a correct assumption." He chuckled, getting into the car. "She is something special."

While Ray was walking around the car to get back in the driver's seat, Harvey's phone went off. Seeing it was Marcus, he answered immediately. "Hey."

There was no greeting. "So?"

"So what?" He chuckled.

"How did it go last night?"

"It went well." He answered. It was nice of Marcus to call and see how his date with Victoria went.

"So you haven't screwed it all up yet?" Marcus asked.

"No." He rolled his eyes even though Marcus wouldn't be able to see it. "Why do you continue to assume I will screw it up?"

"Well you screwed it up the last time." Marcus pointed out. "There is a history there."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"What can I say? I just want her to be a part of the family. God knows she should have been a long time ago."

"If you want her to be a part of the family so badly, why didn't you try to marry her?" He joked.

"She's not my type." Marcus answered without missing a beat. "Besides, I just wanted her to be my sister, not my wife."

"Well it's too early to think about that because she wants to go slow." He couldn't argue with Marcus about how Victoria should have been a part of the family a long time ago. If he hadn't been such an idiot and let her go all those years ago, they would be married by now.

Instead, they were in a relationship going slow. While he understood her reasoning and saw the logic behind it, he felt like they had already wasted too much time not being together. It wasn't going to be easy to go slow. Now that she admitted she still has feelings for him, all he wants is to be around her all the time.

It was the reason he set up a second date before the first one was officially over.

"So you got denied last night?" Marcus laughed. "Isn't that a first for you?"

"Laugh it up." He scoffed.

"Oh I will!" Marcus teased. "It's nice to see even the great and powerful Harvey Specter can get shot down once and a while."

"Is that all you called to do?" He asked. "Just to taunt me?"

"Of course!" Marcus laughed. "No, I actually called to see if I could send you some paperwork. I'm moving forward with my investor. You know, the one I told you about when I came into town? I've already had my lawyer up here look at it, but I was hoping you could take a second look and make sure no one is overlooking anything."

"I'd be glad to." He said. "Send it my way and I'll make it a priority."

"Thanks Harvey. I appreciate it."

"No problem." He told his brother. "What's the point of having a lawyer in the family if you can't get free legal advice, right?"

"Exactly." Marcus laughed. "We'll talk after you have a chance to look at it. Bye loser."

He scoffed when he saw that Marcus had hung up before giving him a chance to retort the loser taunt. He stared at his phone for a moment before pulling up Victoria's number. He thought about calling but didn't want to seem too overbearing. So he settled for texting.

 _Good morning. I had a great time last night._

It only took a few moments for the three dots to appear on his phone, telling him she was typing her response.

 _I had a good time too!_

He smiled, glad that she had fun.

 _Are we still on for another date tonight?_

He already had an idea of what to do for this date.

 _Of course!_

He smiled.

 _I was thinking maybe you could come up to my place and I could cook you dinner._

It took a little longer for her to start typing and he wondered if she liked his idea for their date or not. Although he was suggesting a rather intimate evening, it wasn't so that he could try to get her into bed. He just wanted to have her all to himself. Also, after the disaster of the pizza place, he didn't trust himself to pick a good restaurant right now. When he saw the three dots appear, he relaxed a little.

 _You cook now? Well this I have to see. What time?_

He smiled again because he was glad she agreed to dinner.

 _7:00pm?_

 _See you then._

While they were able to have a good time together last night, he felt tonight was also important because the stress and awkwardness was gone. Now they had to see if they could fit into each other's lives…if they were still compatible together. The fact that she texted him back so quickly was an encouraging sign and made him feel better.

"Um boss man, we're here."

He was brought out of his thoughts by Ray's voice. Looking out the window he saw that they were outside the office. "Sorry."

"No worries." Ray laughed.

* * *

Victoria put her phone down on her desk after sending that last text to Harvey. She wasn't expecting him to text her this early in the morning. It wasn't even 8:30am yet. In high school he wasn't a morning person. She wondered if that was still true or if he grew out of it. It was just another thing she didn't know about him anymore.

When he suggested that she come over for dinner at his place, she had to think about it for a moment. She knew that he would honor her request to go slow. He wouldn't try to pressure her and she doubted he was inviting her up so that he could try and seduce her.

Though it wouldn't be that difficult to seduce her.

She found it difficult not to give in and just sleep with him. But she was trying to be smart about this. She couldn't let them dive back into the relationship they had before. They had to start over to a certain extent because of how much time has passed. They had to be smart about this.

It was time for her to go meet with Robert so she picked up her notebook and phone so she could make her way to his office. She knocked on his door.

"Come in." He called.

She entered his office and sat down across from him.

"How long do you think it will be until you and Harvey close the class action settlement?"

"Maybe two weeks." She estimated. "The medical expert we contracted is almost done with his report. Things will move quickly once he is done."

"Alright." He opened up his notebook and handed her a few pages. "Are you ready?"

"Of course." She nodded.

"Ok." He nodded. "Let's start with a list of the associates we want to bring with us when we leave. Then we can move on to the clients."

"Sounds good." She smiled.

* * *

Victoria knocked on Harvey's door at precisely 7:00 that evening. She smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles in her skirt while she waited for him to open the door.

"Hey." He smiled at her after opening the door.

"Hi." She smiled back.

He leaned in and placed a quick kiss on her lips before motioning for her to come inside. She was slightly surprised by the kiss but it was a good surprise. It felt right. She came inside and put her phone and keys down on the counter. Since she was just coming up one floor she didn't bother bringing a purse. It seemed silly.

"I hope you don't mind but I already opened a bottle of wine and poured you a glass." He said as he scooted past her and went over to the stove to stir a pot.

"I don't mind at all." She told him, seeing the glasses on the counter. She picked one up and took a quick sip. "I see it is red wine. So I assume we aren't having fish?"

He chuckled. "No. I've got pork chops almost done, and then I'm finishing the mashed potatoes and I have a salad as well."

"Wow." She marveled.

"What's that wow about?" He turned to look at her for a moment.

"I'm just remembering in high school you had issues making microwave popcorn. I always had to do it because you managed to burn it every single time."

He smiled. "I know. I was a lost cause for a long time. But I have some serious cooking skills now."

She went over to stand next to him. "Well I don't know how it tastes yet, but it certainly smells great."

"I think you'll like it." He whispered.

"I'm sure I will." She whispered back. She watched as he started to lean in and she knew he was going to kiss her again. His lips made contact with hers and she felt him move closer to her. She soon found herself pinned up against the counter. She threaded her hands through his hair and couldn't contain the soft moan that came from his hands gripping her ass.

When their lips parted because they needed to breathe again, she leaned her forehead up against his. "We shouldn't…"

"I know." He whispered back. "You want to go slow. I'm sorry. I just couldn't help it. You're too sexy."

She chuckled. "I've never been accused of being too sexy."

"There's a first time for everything I guess." He placed a kiss on her forehead before going back to getting dinner ready. "I'll try to control myself more."

"Can I help with dinner?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"If you want, you can put the salad on the table, as well as our drinks." He instructed. "I can get everything else."

"Ok." She picked up the salad bowl and took it to the table. It was then that she realized he had music playing in the background. She shouldn't have been surprised that it was his father's music. She went back over and grabbed the wine glasses to put them on the table before sitting down. A few moments later, Harvey had the rest of the food on the table.

"So how was your day?" He asked as they started to fill their plates with food.

"It was fine." She shrugged. There wasn't much she could say about her day without talking about work, and they had agreed not to talk about that. "What about you? How was your day?"

"It was good." He nodded. "Marcus called. He is moving forward with that investor he was talking about during dinner."

"Well that's exciting."

"Yeah. He sent me the papers to look over today and everything looks good. He actually set up a deal that benefits both parties."

"You sound surprised." She chuckled. "You didn't think he would?"

"He's had a rough time. He struggled for a long time with a gambling addiction. So if you had told me then that he would now be a successful restauranteur I would have laughed in your face. But he's done it. He's really turned his life around."

"It sounds like it."

"I'm proud of him." He smiled.

"It just goes to show that people can change." She pointed out. "Another example of that is this dinner. It's amazing. How did you keep the pork chops from drying out?"

He chuckled. "It's a Specter family secret."

"I see." She laughed. "Well I am impressed."


	24. Chapter 24

One Flight Down

Chapter Twenty-Four

Harvey walked over to the couch with the bottle of wine and poured some into her glass to refill it before sitting down next to her.

"Thank you for such a delicious meal." She smiled. "The company wasn't too bad either."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." He smirked.

"I did."

"So did I." He watched her drink some more of her wine before setting it down on the coffee table. "What should we do now?"

"Well we could…"

Before she could finish that statement, Harvey's phone went off. He pulled his phone from his pocket and saw it was Mike. While he hated to answer the phone tonight, he knew that Mike would only call if there was a development with the case they were working.

"I'm sorry." He apologized to her. "It's Mike and I have to take this."

"It's fine." She assured him.

"Mike, did you find something?" He started to pace around the room. "What does that have to do with anything?...So you think we can use that and combine it with the other to force their hand?...Alright…Yeah…Good job…We'll finalize it in the morning…No, not tonight…because I'm busy…I'm just busy with other things…Yes. Tomorrow."

He got off the phone and put it down on the coffee table.

"Good news?" She guessed.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Mike found some buried precedent for a case we have."

"That's wonderful." She smiled.

"I feel bad that I took that phone call." He sat back down next to her.

"You shouldn't." She laughed. "It was important. I understand that."

"You're amazing." He smiled.

"I don't know about amazing." She blushed.

"I do."

"Can I ask you something?"

She looked hesitant and he couldn't help but be curious about what she wanted to ask him. "Of course you can."

"I know the story about Mike. Robert's told me the whole thing. But I can't help being curious about why you would hire him in the first place, knowing he wasn't a real lawyer. So why did you do it?"

He sighed. "I'd love to be able to say that I saw something great in Mike and wanted to develop it. I'd love to say that I didn't realize what I was doing was that wrong. Or that I suffered from temporary insanity. But the truth is I hired Mike because I thought that I was invincible and I could pull something like that off. I was the great Harvey Specter. I pull off shit that no one else can and I get away with shit that no one else can on a regular basis. So I thought that hiring Mike wouldn't come back to bite me or anyone else in the ass later on. It was hubris plain and simple. And I thought that once anyone got too close to finding out the truth I would just fire Mike and make it all go away."

"But you didn't fire him." She pointed out.

"No I didn't." He admitted. "Somewhere along the way, I started to care about Mike. He's become like a second brother to me. So when people got too close to finding out about him I did whatever I could to minimize the fallout. And I pulled every string and every tactic I could to get him out of prison and accepted by the bar association. I'm not proud of hiring him without a law degree. I know that was wrong."

"But you don't regret it." She pointed out.

Her tone wasn't judgmental like he thought it would be considering Robert had been telling her everything about the situation. He was surprised that she was so understanding and still knew him well enough to know what he was feeling without him saying it.

"No. I don't regret it." He shook his head. "In fact, even knowing what I know now, I'd still do it all over again. Though I would do some things differently to keep him from being found out."

"Naturally." She smirked.

"So can I ask you something now?"

"Of course." She nodded.

"Just how badly has Robert poisoned your mind against me?" He chuckled.

"He hasn't really…"

"You can tell me the truth." He interrupted. "I know Robert doesn't like me. When Mike was going through all of the legal trouble he told me repeatedly that I ruined Rachel's life by bringing a fraud into everyone's lives."

"He was, and still kind of is, mad about that." She admitted. "But he is slowly getting over it because he sees how happy Rachel is. All he really wants is for his daughter to be happy, healthy and safe. He thought you were messing with her happiness so he went a little overboard being protective of her."

"I can understand that." He nodded. "You know he is that protective over you as well."

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't think I'm good enough for you. He's told me to leave you alone." He explained.

"But you aren't going to." She chuckled.

"No." He smiled. "There's no way I can leave you alone."

"Good." She chuckled. "Do we have to talk about Robert tonight?"

"No." He smirked. "We don't."

"That's also good." She smiled.

He locked eyes with her and watched as she leaned in closer. It wasn't long before their lips met and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her body and enjoyed the sensation.

When they parted lips, he looked at her with curiosity. "I thought we were going slow."

"We are." She smirked. "But just because I'm not ready to have sex with you yet doesn't mean we can't make out."

He smirked back and chuckled. "I like the way you think."

"I thought you would." She giggled.

He gently pushed her so she was laying on her back and was getting ready to kiss her again when he heard his door open. High heels clacked on the floor. He looked over and saw that Scottie was standing there.

"This is obviously a bad time." Scottie chuckled.

He sat up and looked first at Scottie and then Victoria. Victoria had also gotten up into a sitting position and there was an expression on her face that he couldn't read. She was staring at Scottie.

"Scottie, what are you doing here?" He finally asked.

"I'm in town for a case." Scottie told him. "Your doorman told me you were home and let me come up."

"Damn doorman." He whispered.

"Now is a bad time. I can leave." Scottie told him.

"No. There's no need for you to leave." Victoria spoke up, getting up from the couch. "I'm going to leave."

"Vic…" He tried to grab her hand to get her to stay but she moved too fast for him. He watched as she walked over to the counter and grabbed her stuff. "Vic wait!"

"Don't be rude to your guest Harvey." She called out as she kept her back to him.

He wanted to run after her. He knew what this looked like and cursed the situation he was in now. But he had to stay and make sure Scottie knew their old arrangement was no longer valid. Then he would go downstairs and make things right with Victoria.

"I'm sorry." Scottie apologized. "I didn't know you had company. To be fair, you don't usually bring women home with you."

"She's not just any woman though." He sighed, getting up and walking over to Scottie.

"You care about her." Scottie surmised.

"Very much." He nodded.

"So Harvey Specter finally has real feelings for a woman." She laughed. "I should mark this date down in my calendar because I never thought that would happen."

"You know what that means though, right?"

"Of course." She nodded. "Our little arrangement of me coming here whenever I'm in town for a little fun is over."

"I'm sorry." He apologized. He was beginning to feel like he had been using Scottie, though if she didn't want to be in this arrangement she would have said no. It was her idea after all. But still. He had been sleeping with her whenever she randomly came into town for years now.

"Don't worry Harvey." She assured him. "I'm a big girl and I can handle the fact that you never looked at me the way you just looked at her. For what it's worth, I hope I haven't ruined everything for you by showing up here tonight."

"I'm sure you haven't." Now he felt bad because he was lying to her. He wasn't sure if her appearance had ruined everything he was trying to build with Victoria or not. But he wasn't going to make Scottie feel bad about it by telling her the truth. "And for what it's worth I do care about you."

"Just not the same way you care about her." She chuckled. "I understand." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodbye Harvey."

"Bye Scottie."

* * *

Victoria slammed her door and threw her stuff on the kitchen counter. She wasn't sure who that woman was who burst into Harvey's place and she didn't want to stick around to find out. She knew Harvey had a past and she had exes too. But none of her exes would ever think about coming into her place without knocking like that.

Which left her to wonder what this Scottie person was to him.

She sat down at the kitchen counter and sighed. Maybe she should have stayed and let him explain. Running away wasn't going to solve anything. She realized that, but there was no way she was going back up there.

There was a knock on her door and she contemplated not answering it. But she had a feeling it was Harvey and knew she needed to answer it. She took a deep breath and walked over. It was Harvey, just like she thought.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

She looked at his face and saw that he was contrite. She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded before stepping out of the way.

"So I'm sorry. That was Scottie." He told her as she closed the door.

"I guessed that when you called her Scottie." She scoffed, following him into her living room.

"Right. Well I dated her in college." He explained. "And then after college we ended up in this arrangement where whenever she came into town we would get together."

"You don't have to explain…"

"No I do." He insisted. "I'm sorry that she interrupted us. I didn't even know that she was in town."

"She didn't even knock."

"No. She didn't." He nodded. "It was part of the arrangement that she could just come and go from my place whenever she wanted."

"What if you had a woman over, like tonight?" She asked.

"That's easy." He chuckled. "I never brought women home with me. I always went to their place."

"Never?" She couldn't believe that.

"No, never." He explained. "I always thought that bringing women home with me was a very intimate thing. By bringing them home I was exposing vulnerability and letting them into my life. Those were two things I didn't want to do. So I always went to their places and I didn't stay the whole night."

"But Scottie got to come in." She pointed out.

"She did." He nodded. "Of all of the women I've been with since you, she was the only one I let myself care about."

Every new statement he made about Scottie made her more and more paranoid about the place Scottie held in his life. She was almost afraid to hear any more or ask any more questions. So she stayed silent.

"And I do care about her. But I never let her in all the way. I never told her I loved her or anything like that." He explained. "You see, there is no comparison between you and her. You are so much more important to me. I told Scottie our arrangement is over for good because I have you back in my life now."

She looked at him and could tell he was saying the truth.

"I want you to know that I am all in on this relationship." He grabbed her hands and held them in his. "That's why I had you come to my place tonight and I made you dinner. I have never done that for any woman, not even Scottie."

"Really?"

"Really." He nodded.

His words meant a lot to her, especially the fact that she was special since she was invited to dinner at his place.

"I know that seeing Scottie wasn't what you expected tonight and I'm sorry that she showed up. I just want you to know…"

She cut him off by kissing him. She could tell that he was surprised and it took him a moment to wrap his arms around her. After a while she pulled away so she could breathe again.

"What was that for?" He asked with a smile on his face.

"I thought maybe we could pick up where we left off before we were interrupted." She smirked. She thought maybe that would be a good way to let him know that things were ok again.

"I like the way you think."


	25. Chapter 25

One Flight Down

Chapter Twenty-Five

The next day Victoria walked towards her office with a huge smile on her face. While last night's date with Harvey didn't go exactly how she thought it would, it was still a good night overall.

Having Harvey's ex walk in on them while they were about to start making out was very awkward. After taking a good look at how attractive Scottie was, she couldn't stop her jealousy and insecurity from coming out. Running out of there like that and going back to her apartment wasn't the most mature thing to do, but she consoled herself with the knowledge that at least she didn't start screaming and carrying on like a lunatic. There were worse things she could have done.

She was also surprised that Harvey was being so open with her about things, like his relationship with Scottie and other women. He had a reputation around the city for being closed off and a bit of an asshole. But that wasn't the way he was with her. With her, he was more like the guy she knew in high school.

The fact that he had her come over to his place for dinner when normally he pulled out all of the stops to keep women from his place meant a lot to her. It was also special that he cooked for her. She had to admit that he was really trying. She knew she had to reciprocate.

They ended up making out for a while before calling it a night. He was the one to suggest it was time for him to leave and she suspected it was due to the amount of time that they had been making out. She had to admit that her dreams last night were extremely x-rated and couldn't help but wonder if he had the same experience.

She got into her office and sat down. Almost immediately after that, Robert came in.

"Morning." He said, sitting down across from her.

"Hey." She smiled. Normally he didn't come into her office this early in the day. "What's up?"

"Are you almost done with the list of clients we want to bring with us?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded. "It's done and on my flash drive right now."

"Wonderful." He smiled. "We are having a meeting with them tomorrow night. We're going to go over the client lists and determine any conflicts of interests that there might be."

"Do you think there are going to be many?"

"At this point, I don't really know." He sighed. "Just be ready for a fight if there are conflicts. And remember that you should stand up for yourself if there are conflicts of interest with clients you absolutely don't want to lose. You're going to be a name partner now. Name partners go to battle for things that are important to them."

"I'll definitely keep that in mind." She nodded. It was good advice and she was glad to have it. To be honest, she was nervous about being a name partner. She knew she could do it, but it was going to be different and she wasn't sure what to expect. It was made more complicated by her new relationship with Harvey.

"Do you want to ride over together to the meeting tomorrow?"

She thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "No, it's ok. I have some things to do tomorrow before so I'll just meet you there."

"Alright." He nodded, getting up to leave her office.

She felt bad for lying to him. She didn't have stuff to do before. But she felt like if she rode with him to the meeting then she would feel like she had to accept a ride home from him. In reality, the only one she wanted to ride home with was Harvey.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

* * *

Harvey looked up and saw Louis standing in the doorway. "Can it wait? I'm a little busy."

"No, actually it can't wait." Louis sighed, closing the door and sitting down. "What are we going to do about Robert and Victoria?"

"What do you mean?" He dropped his pen on the desk and looked at Louis. While he wanted to get his work done, he was now curious about this.

"They are coming in tomorrow night so we can go over client lists. That means we have to eliminate any clients that are a conflict of interest."

"Yeah. That is what it means." He chuckled. "So what?"

It would be nice to see Victoria tomorrow night, even if it was in a professional setting and he couldn't flirt with her. Maybe he could give her a ride home after the meeting though.

"That means this merger is really happening." Louis said.

He laughed harder. "Of course it is! What did you think was going to happen? It would all suddenly fall apart?"

"I was hoping it would." Louis grumbled. "Aren't you upset about this at all?"

"I'm upset that Jessica is leaving." He admitted. "I would rather Robert wasn't joining the firm because he practically hates me. But no, I'm not particularly upset about this merger."

"You should be!" Louis yelled.

"And why is that?"

"Because it is going to turn into an us against them situation." Louis explained. "It would be one thing if it was just Robert joining as name partner. But somehow he has convinced Jessica to not only bring along his sidekick but also promote her to name partner when we know nothing about her. At least we know what kind of lawyer Robert is. We don't know anything about her though. But she will get a vote now and who do you think she will vote for? I know you think you are a master at flirting, but I highly doubt there is enough flirting in the world to make her not vote with Robert all of the time."

He didn't appreciate Louis calling Victoria a sidekick to Robert. It was disrespectful and he knew that he needed to address it. But it didn't seem like this was the time while Louis was so animated about this subject. He also thought about telling Louis about his past with Victoria to prove that he knew about her and could vouch for her. But that would go against Victoria's wishes and he found he couldn't do that either.

He sighed, feeling trapped. "Louis, it's only going to become an us against them situation if we let it. We should be trying to get along with them."

"How are we supposed to do that when there is an even number of us now? We are going to forever be stuck in an endless sea of tied votes."

"Well what did you have in mind then?" He knew Louis well enough to know that the real reason he came in here was to ask for something. There was no way Louis didn't have something planned out in his mind. He would be able to get back to work sooner if he flat out asked what that plan was instead of being subtle.

"We need to make your sidekick a name partner too and we need to do it before the merger happens." Louis answered with a proud look on his face.

"My sidekick?" He chuckled.

"Yeah." Louis nodded. "Mike. Who else could I possibly be talking about? Mike is the only associate in this damn place that you have deemed worthy enough to work on your cases."

"That's not true." He argued. "I've let Rachel work on my cases."

"Ok. You have two associates you will work with." Louis rolled his eyes. "Big deal."

"You do know that we can't make Mike a name partner, right? That's not an option."

"I've been looking at the bylaws. We actually can make him a name partner right before a merger. We can call a meeting tonight with Jessica. If we both vote for him, she won't be able to block us."

"Look I would love to see Mike's name up on the wall at some point…" He sighed. "But now isn't the right time."

"I know he hasn't been out of jail for that long but…"

"There is no but." He interrupted. "He has been in jail recently for practicing law at this very firm without a law degree or bar affiliation. Our associates left after he was arrested and we've had to start over from scratch. That alone is reason enough why we can't slap his name up there. Also, he has only been in the bar for a couple of months. Do you really want to face an onslaught of bad publicity from making him a face of this firm right now? Because I sure as hell don't."

"Fine." Louis fumed. "How about Rachel?"

He couldn't help but laugh. "You think making Robert's daughter a name partner is a good idea when you want someone who will vote for us? You don't think she might feel familial pressure to vote for her father?"

"Then pick someone else because we need a third person who will be on our side. We need to stack the deck."

"I won't do it." He shook his head. "And you need to stop thinking about a new name partner. Start focusing on how we are all going to start working together as a team."

"How are you so calm about this?" Louis asked. "When we merged with Edward Darby you went apeshit. You went behind Jessica's back and tried to have her ousted as managing partner. But now…it's the exact opposite. It's like you want this merger to happen."

"That was a completely different situation. I see the validity of this merger." He answered honestly.

"No. That's not what this is about." Louis shook his head. "You see an opportunity to get together with Victoria. You have the hots for her and see this merger as a way to get into her pants."

"Louis, you need to turn around and leave now." He could feel his tempter rising. He wasn't sure why Louis had such a problem with Victoria but he wasn't going to let his friend continue to disparage her.

"I'm just saying that I think you need to start thinking with your brain and not with your…"

"Louis!" He interrupted. "Get out now!"

"Fine." Louis rolled his eyes. "But don't say I didn't warn you. We are going to end up getting steamrolled by them."

He shook his head in disgust after Louis left. While he was a little worried about the fact that there were going to be four name partners instead of three, he had to believe that everything would be ok. He had to trust that Victoria wouldn't vote with Robert simply because she was, for lack of a better work, Robert's sidekick.


	26. Chapter 26

One Flight Down

Chapter Twenty-Six

Victoria picked up her office phone and dialed Harvey's number. It rang twice before Donna answered.

"Harvey Specter's office."

"Hey Donna." She greeted. "This is Victoria."

"Oh hi Victoria." Donna greeted back. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Fine."

"Is Harvey available? I need to speak with him about something."

"Hold on for a moment while I check."

Donna put her on hold, which was fine. It only took a few moments before she came back on the line.

"I'm putting you through to him now."

"Thanks." A short time later, the line clicked.

"Hey you." Harvey greeted.

"Hey." Even though he couldn't see it, she could feel herself smile just at the sound of his voice through the phone.

"Did you miss me so much you just had to call?" He teased.

"Actually this is a professional call." She laughed. "See you can tell because I called your office and not your cell phone."

"I guess we really are separating our work life from our personal life." He chuckled. "Ok. I'll play along. What do I owe this professional call?"

"Our expert is done with his analysis of the clients. Dr. Carter is sending over his report to me. I thought we should schedule a time to go over it together." She explained.

"How about tonight?"

"Tonight?" She chuckled.

"Yeah. You can come over to my office. We can work on going through it. I can order in some food too."

"Are you sure that is a good idea since we are trying to keep things separate?" She asked.

"Well we have to be in the same room to work on this together." He reminded her. "I can be professional. Can you?"

"I can." She agreed.

"So then it is settled. I'll see you here later this evening."

"Yes you will." She agreed. "Bye Harvey."

"Bye."

She put the phone down. Working with him in the confines of his office at night wasn't going to be easy. But she believed she could do it. Her cell phone rang and she reached over to grab it. A huge smile formed when she saw who it was.

"Hello." She greeted.

"Hello." Harvey greeted.

"Didn't I just talk to you?" She laughed.

"Yes, but there were some things I wanted to say to you that apparently I can't say when we are talking business." He explained.

"Ok I'll play along." She teased, using his phrase from earlier. "Like what?"

"Like how I had a really nice time last night and I can't get you out of my mind."

"That's funny because I could say the exact same thing." She chuckled.

"That isn't funny." He objected. "It's a sign."

She couldn't help but be curious. "A sign of what?"

"A sign that you should go out to lunch with me today." He answered. "I would say dinner but I just found out I have to work late on a big case."

"A big case, huh?" She chuckled. "Well I don't want to keep you from your work. So in that case I guess lunch would be fine."

"Wonderful. Is it ok if I text you a time and place?"

She actually had an idea and smirked. "Actually, why don't you let me take the lead on this one today? And I will text you a time and place?"

"Alright. Sounds good."

"Bye Harvey." She hung up the phone. She had an idea that she hoped he would like.

* * *

Harvey walked along the trail in Central Park, heading towards where Victoria told him to meet her for lunch. He couldn't help but be curious when she texted him directions to Central Park and then told him where to meet her. He came upon a clearing in a remote part of the park and saw her sitting under a tree, smoothing out the blanket she had put down. He couldn't help but think back to the first picnic they shared.

 _It was a bright and warm summer day. They had come to a nearby park. He had a picnic basket in one hand and was holding Victoria's hand in the other. He looked over at her, catching her eye. She smiled at him and he couldn't help but smile back. "Is over there ok?" He asked, motioning to a nearby tall tree._

" _It's perfect!" She giggled, breaking free of his grasp and running over to the tree. She unfolded the blanket she was carrying and smoothed it out on the ground._

 _By the time he made his way over, the blanket was perfectly placed. He watched as Victoria laid down and started staring at the sky. Unable to stifle it, he laughed. "What are you doing?"_

" _Staring at the clouds." She said, patting the space next to her. "Come join me."_

 _He was unable to find a single reason not to join her so he put the basket down before getting onto the blanket next to her. Once he was on the blanket she moved his arm and laid up against him. "Why are we looking at the clouds?"_

" _Because it is fun to try and figure out what they look like." She answered. "And it's also a way for me to con my way into your arms."_

" _You don't have to con your way in." He told her, kissing the top of her head. "These arms will open for you anytime you want."_

" _Anytime is a pretty big commitment." She chuckled. "What if you get sick of me?"_

" _I highly doubt that could ever happen."_

 _She faced him, propping herself up. "I really love you."_

" _I really love you too." He told her._

 _She leaned in and started to kiss him._

They had a lot of fun on that picnic, as well as the other picnics they had that summer. Sometimes she would bring a book and they would lay up against a tree. He would wrap his arms around her and she would read to him. Other times they would lay together watching the clouds and taking turns guessing what the clouds looked like.

He had to admit that it was a genius move to plan a picnic today. And she chose a part of Central park that was so isolated he doubted anyone they knew would walk by and see them. She looked his way and smiled, waving him over. So he hurried over to her.

She got up and he gave her a quick kiss before looking at the blanket. She had hot dogs, French fries and onion rings from what he imagined was a food cart. She also had sodas. It was a great spread.

"This looks great." He smiled, taking off his jacket and loosening his tie.

"Thanks." She blushed. "Since it was last minute, I didn't have a chance to make it exactly like our other picnics. But I think it turned out rather nicely."

"I do too." He agreed.

"I was inspired by your idea for our first date. I hope this wasn't too cheesy."

"It's not." He assured her. "I think this was a wonderful idea." He saw her smile and couldn't help but match it. "What's for lunch?"

"I got hot dogs and chips." She laughed, holding them up.

"My favorites." He chuckled, taking his from her. He started to eat his hot dog.

"So, about last night…"

"What about it?" He questioned.

"I'm sorry for leaving like that last night." She apologized.

He was caught off guard by her apology. He looked over at her and saw that she was staring at her hot dog.

"And before you try to be nice and say that it's ok or it doesn't matter, it isn't ok and it does matter." She looked over at him.

"Vic…"

"Harvey." She countered. "I was jealous. I was insecure. And I didn't even give you a chance to say anything before I left. It wasn't fair of me."

"I can see how you would be upset by Scottie's appearance though." He pointed out. "I would probably have done the same thing if the roles had been reversed."

"Still…" She trailed off. "I know you have had this whole life without me all these years and I've had a life without you. It's just weird to come face to face with that life without any warning."

"That's understandable." He nodded, scooting closer to her. He put his hot dog down on the blanket before lightly cupping her face in his hands. "But you have absolutely nothing to worry about. By some stroke of luck you are back in my life and I don't want to let you go again."

He watched her eyes light up and he knew he was said the right thing to make her happy again.

She leaned in and placed a quick kiss on his lips before pulling away. "Let's eat before these hot dogs get too cold."

"Whatever you say." He smirked before going back to eating. A few moments later he saw that she was eating but also staring at him.

"Do I have mustard on my face or something?" He laughed.

"No." She laughed. "I just…I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"For being understanding about my ground rules." She explained. "And for being you."

"Who else would I be?" He winked at her.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully at him. "You know what I mean! You have this reputation. Most people believe if you look up the term emotionally unavailable in the dictionary they will see your name. But you've let down your guard with me and I appreciate it."

"I usually am emotionally unavailable so I can see how that reputation would be formed." He wasn't always that way. Years of suppressing the hurt from his mother's actions and believing that everyone would end up hurting him made him that way. To be completely honest, he was surprising himself by not being that way with her. But there was something about her that made him feel like that teenager he was when they first got together.

That Harvey was much more open with his feelings. He said what he felt no matter what. Granted, that Harvey could still be an asshole and was definitely a cocky son of a bitch. But that Harvey didn't mind being vulnerable to the right people.

And Victoria was the right person.

He didn't know how to explain it so he was quiet for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her grab French fries and start eating them.

He wanted to tell her just how special she was to him, how she made him want to be the old Harvey again, and just how much he still loved her. But he didn't want to scare her so he simply went back to eating.


	27. Chapter 27

One Flight Down

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"So what do you think?" Victoria asked him as they finished their dinner that night. She came over to his office earlier and found that he had ordered Chinese food. That was fine with her because he somehow still remembered her favorites and had them all set up for her.

They started to eat and go through Dr. Carter's report, making sure that they went line by line on each of the plaintiffs to see if there was any smoking gun that would keep them from being able to push for a huge settlement.

"I think that as long as this last plaintiff is as good as the other ones, we should be able to craft a large settlement offer and force them to take it." He told her. "Everything so far looks good. These people were extremely unlucky to get such a horrible product put into their bodies."

"Yes, they were." She agreed. "But fortunately it looks like we will be able to get them a nice payout, which should help them with medical bills."

She was proud of them. They had been able to work tonight without any problems. He was true to his word and wasn't flirting with her or being anything other than professional. Truthfully, she had wondered if they would be able to work together and keep it professional now that they were dating. She thought this would be a good way to gauge if they would be able to work together once she and Robert joined the firm. He was being a perfect gentleman, which was calming some of her fears.

She took a moment to really look at him closely. He had taken his jacket and tie off. Those were strewn across his desk chair since they were on his couch using the coffee table as a table. His sleeves were rolled up and he had his head down as he read the report. Somehow, without even trying, he was even sexier when he was working. It reminded her of the times they would study together in high school.

" _Do you remember how to solve this type of equation?" He asked, looking across the table at her as they sat in her kitchen doing their calculus homework._

" _What kind?" She got up and came over to look at the problem. "Oh yeah. That's a parametric equation. So you have to do this." She grabbed a piece of spare paper and started scribbling to solve the equation. "There you go."_

" _My God, you are beautiful and smart." He chuckled, shaking his head as if in disbelief. "How did I ever get so lucky?"_

" _I honestly don't know." She smirked and shrugged her shoulders. She kissed his cheek and then went back to her seat. He was moving on to the next problem so she sat there for a moment and watched him. He had a look of intense concentration on his face and she couldn't help but smile._

God she loved this man.

That realization stunned her, though she shouldn't have been surprised. It was the truth and if she wanted to be truthful with herself, she never stopped loving him—even when she hated him. It was the reason none of her relationships worked out. She could never seem to give her whole heart to anyone else and sooner or later they all realized it. It turns out no one really wants to settle for someone who can only give part of their heart. She honestly couldn't blame them for it.

There were times she cursed Harvey—cursed the hold he still had over her after all of those years. There were times she missed him so much it felt like she was going to be crushed by the sadness of not having him in her life anymore. There were times where she forced herself to forget about him and try to move on.

But the love was always there, pulsing through her bloodstream like a silent killer waiting to pounce.

And now here she was, beginning a new relationship with him and finding herself scared out of her mind. What if they were moving too fast? What if it didn't work out this time? They tried to be together once before and it ended badly. Granted that was in high school, but still. Could she really handle it if things didn't work out again? It was hard enough back then. Also, their lives were about to get intertwined even more with this merger. How would they be able to coexist if this relationship ended?

It was starting to make her panic. She could feel her heart rate increase and it was getting harder to breathe.

"What's going on in that brain of yours?" He asked with a chuckle. "You look like you are a million miles away."

"It's nothing." She shrugged. "Um, if you'll excuse me I need to find the restroom. I'll be right back."

Without waiting for him to say anything, she got up from her chair and hurried out of the room. She wandered around the halls aimlessly because she didn't really need to go to the restroom but needed to be gone long enough to convince him that's where she went. She just needed a moment where she wasn't around Harvey so that she could clear her mind and stop panicking.

She still wasn't sure where she was going. Only being in their offices a few times meant she wasn't too familiar with the layout. She was surprised to run into Jessica. "Oh. Hi."

"Hello Victoria." Jessica smiled. "Are you working late with Harvey?"

"Yes." She nodded. "We got the report back from our medical expert and are going over it. I just needed a moment to clear my head." She noticed that Jessica had her purse and coat in her hand. It was late and she was probably headed home.

"So what's wrong?" Jessica asked. "Is the medical report going to hurt the case?"

"No. The medical report is actually going to help us force a settlement." She shook her head.

"That's great news." Jessica smiled. "So then why do you look so panicked?"

She wasn't aware that she looked panicked. "It doesn't have to do with the case."

"What is bothering you?"

She shrugged. "It's nothing."

"Doesn't seem like nothing." Jessica chuckled.

"I guess a part of me is worried about joining this firm and the ramifications it may have down the line." She admitted.

"C'mon." She turned around and motioned for her to follow as she went back into her office.

She reluctantly followed Jessica into her office.

"How about something to drink?" Jessica offered.

"Oh, I don't know if I should since we are still working…"

"Nonsense." Jessica chuckled. "One drink won't kill you. We can drink and talk for a moment."

"But you seemed like you were on your way out." She said as she watched Jessica put her stuff down and start pouring them both a drink. "I don't want to keep you."

"It's alright." Jessica assured her. "Jeff is in Chicago already finding us a place to live so you're actually saving me from going home to an empty condo."

"Alright then." She nodded, accepting the drink and sitting on the couch.

"Did Robert tell you how the merger came to happen?" Jessica asked.

"No." She shook her head. "He hasn't said anything about that."

"Well I went to him and asked if he wanted to join the firm once I left." She explained. "I went to him because I respect him and I think that he would be the right person to lead this firm in my absence. So I laid everything out on the table for him and he said he needed some time to think about it. The very next day he came back and said he would do it but only if I made sure that you could join as a name partner. That was a deal breaker for him."

"I still don't understand why." She laughed, taking a long sip of the liquid in her glass. The liquid warmed her as it went down her throat. "I could have just joined as a senior partner. I would have been happy with that. He didn't have to make me a name partner in order for me to come over with him."

"I actually asked him why myself because I was curious." Jessica explained. "He said that you were one of the best and brightest attorneys he had ever worked with and any firm would be incredibly lucky to have you as a name partner. He went on and on about your contributions to his firm and how he couldn't possibly come here without you. He thinks very highly of you."

"He's been a great mentor and an even better friend." She agreed.

"What I'm trying to say is that Robert has faith in you. You should have faith in yourself too."

"It's not really a matter of faith." She countered. "I know I can be a good name partner because I don't mind making the hard or difficult decisions that I've been Robert have to make. It's more about fitting in with everyone. Louis clearly doesn't want me around and Harvey…well he wants me around now. But…"

"What about if Harvey changes his mind?" Jessica asked.

"Something like that." She chuckled.

"I hope you don't mind but Harvey did tell me a little bit about your history the night I announced the merger." Jessica paused for a moment before continuing. "It did give me pause for a moment about making you a name partner. I worried about it but then I saw you two at Robert's anniversary party. I haven't seen Harvey look so carefree in the entire time I've known him. He's happy and I suspect it has to do with you. So I'm not worried about it anymore."

"We just didn't work out last time." She pointed out. It didn't escape her notice that Jessica said Harvey seemed happy. She couldn't help but be happy about that. But she was still worried. "I'm not certain why I should think it would work out this time."

"You can't live your life worried about what might happen." Jessica advised. "You and Harvey may work out long term or you may crash and burn again. But what would you rather do? Do you want to try and give it everything you have? Or do you want to play it safe and risk never knowing if things will work out?"

She had to admit that Jessica made a good point. She didn't want to live the rest of her life wondering if she and Harvey could make their relationship work. She wanted to try.

That meant she had to start letting him in more and she had to stop being so afraid.

"You're right." She nodded. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jessica smiled. "Believe me. I know what it is like to be afraid to take a risk. My relationship with Jeff hasn't always been easy. We actually have broken up before too. And I'm taking a huge risk by going to Chicago with him. But I have to believe it will be a good experience, even if we don't work out."

She chugged the rest of the liquid in her glass, downing it like a shot. "I should get back before Harvey thinks I just left or something."

"Of course." Jessica nodded.

"Thank you for the drink and the advice." She smiled, getting up from the couch.

"You're welcome." Jessica smiled.

"I can see why Harvey thinks so much of you."

"Oh Victoria? About Louis…"

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Louis can be high-strung at times. But he has a good heart and he cares more about this firm than anyone else I've ever known. Give it some time and he will come around."

"Thanks." She walked down the hallways back to Harvey's office and stood in the doorway. Harvey was still in the same place as when she left. He had his head buried in the report. She knew what she had to do. So she entered the office, watching as he looked up at her and smiled.

"Hey." He chuckled. "I wondered where you went. You've been gone a while. Everything ok? Did you get lost on the way to the restroom?"

She didn't answer, instead walking over to him. She sat next to him on the couch, placed her hands on both sides of his face and kissed him.

"What was that about?" He smirked once their lips parted. "Don't get me wrong, I definitely enjoyed it and am not complaining. But doesn't that go against your 'let's keep work and personal life separate' mantra?"

"I don't care about that at this particular moment." She sighed. "I just…I really care about you and I wanted you to know that."

"Trust me. The feeling is more than mutual." He chuckled. "But as much as I would love to continue kissing you, shouldn't we finish this report?"

"Yeah." She nodded. She went to scoot down to her side of the couch when he pulled her over to him. This time he kissed her.

"Can we continue this after we get our work done?" He whispered.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I'd like that."

* * *

"There." He sighed, typing the last of the notes. "We are officially done."

"Finally!" She joked with a soft chuckle.

He looked at his watch. "Hey, it's only 11:30. It could have taken longer."

That's true." She nodded. "I guess we should be grateful it only took five and a half hours."

"Exactly!" He smirked, pressing save on the laptop before closing it up. He then looked over at her. "Do you want to head home? Or I could pour us some drinks first."

"Let's do drinks first." She smiled.

"I'll pour them." He got up and walked over to his bar. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her get up and walk over to his wall of records. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted for Ray to come pick them up in twenty minutes. By the time he got their drinks poured, she had a record in her hand and was walking over to the record player.

"What did you pick?" He asked.

"You'll see." She chuckled.

A few seconds later, some Louis Armstrong flooded the office. She walked over to him so he handed her a glass.

"You have good taste in music." He commented.

"So do you." She smiled, taking a sip.

"I'm glad I'll get to see you tomorrow night, even if it is here and related to our professional relationship." He stated.

"Oh yeah. The meeting to reduce conflicts of interest." She chuckled. "I'm not looking forward to that meeting."

"Why not?" He was curious now.

"It's just that Robert wants me to fight for any clients that mean a lot to me." She explained. "And there are a few that I would gladly fight for because they mean a lot to me. But I don't want to make everything into a battle. And I don't really want to make Louis even more upset with me. I don't exactly understand what his problem with me is or how to fix it. Hell, I don't even know if I can fix it."

He felt bad because he did know what Louis' problem with her was. Louis saw her as someone Harvey wanted to screw and as someone who would be a puppet for Robert. Louis just didn't realize that Victoria was so much more than that.

He wasn't sure if he should stay quiet or try to say something. So he decided to stay quiet in the hopes that she would move on to a different topic.

"Do you think there will be many conflicts tomorrow?" She questioned as she drank the rest of the liquid in the glass.

"I don't think so." He shook his head. "And if there are, we can get through them."

She smiled. "Thanks."

He drank the rest of the liquid in his glass and looked at the time. "Ray should be downstairs in a few minutes. Do you want to make our way down to the lobby?"

"Yeah." She nodded, getting up from the couch and heading over to gather her stuff.

He watched as she got her stuff together and put it into her over-sized purse. When she turned around to look at him he smiled. "Ready?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

He wanted to grab her hand as they walked to the elevator. There wasn't anyone left in the building since it was so late but he knew that was pushing it. She wanted to keep their professional and private lives separate. And aside from the kiss they shared earlier, they were doing a good job of separating it. So he just walked close to her and occasionally let his hand brush against hers.

Once they got in the elevator, he grabbed her hand though. "So is there any chance I can convince you to come back to my place for another drink?"

She looked over at him and smiled.

"I'm not ready for the evening to be over yet." He told her.

"I guess I can come up for one drink." She chuckled.

He smiled, glad that he would be able to spend some more time with her.


	28. Chapter 28

One Flight Down

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Victoria stretched her legs out as she usually did every morning when she woke up before opening her eyes. But when she opened them she was confused.

This wasn't her bedroom and there was definitely an arm draped across her body.

She looked over and saw Harvey still sleeping soundly next to her. His mouth was slightly open and his hair was tousled. After a moment of panic, she remembered what happened last night and how it lead to her in bed with him.

 _She looked over at him from the couch as he poured them a drink. The ride back from the office was a playful one because she was asking Ray questions about how long he had known Harvey and how was he able to stand working for someone like him. She had to admit that Harvey was a good sport about the good natured ribbing she and Ray engaged in at his expense._

" _Here you go." He smiled as he handed her another drink._

" _Thanks." She smiled back. She knew that she had to start being more open with him about things and decided that now was as good of a time as any—especially because this was now her third drink of the evening._

" _So you have been upfront with me about your relationships during the time we were apart…"_

" _Well I wouldn't exactly call them relationships." He chuckled. "The closest I got to a relationship was whatever you want to call it with Scottie."_

" _Still…" She trailed off for a moment. "I haven't been as forthcoming with you lately about my past."_

" _It's alright. I just figured you would share once you felt like you could." He explained, taking a sip._

" _The thing is, I've had my fair share of relationships but only four real relationships since you broke up with me." She stated, watching as his face morphed. The look on his face was now one of confusion and curiosity. "There was Kevin, Antonio, Dave and Dean. The relationships I had with these guys…some were intense and some were carefree. But all of them were serious ones."_

" _Ok…"_

 _She could tell that this conversation was now making him uncomfortable. Apparently he didn't want to hear all about her love life away from him. But she felt like she had to say this so she continued._

" _I'm only telling you this because there is a common theme in those relationships. They all ended because of you."_

" _How is that?" He chuckled._

" _Every single time the relationship ended because they realized I still was in love with you. Some knew your name and some just knew you as my high school sweetheart. But it was always the same thing. They realized there was a part of my heart that they couldn't access…I was closed off to them in some ways because they weren't you."_

 _He reached over and grabbed her hand. "Vic…"_

" _I just want to finish what I'm saying." She shook her head. "They all realized at some point that they couldn't compare to you in my heart or my mind."_

 _He smirked. "So I guess what you could say is I ruined you for other men."_

 _She rolled her eyes and playfully hit his shoulder. "That's what you take away from what I said?"_

" _No." He put his drink down and pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arm around her body. "What I took away from it was that you still care about me and you never stopped."_

" _Yeah." She nodded, resting her head on his shoulder. "That's the truth."_

" _I'd be lying if I said hearing that didn't make me happy because I never stopped caring about you either." He confessed. "It was a large part of why I never tried to be in relationships. I knew deep down that no one would ever compare to you."_

" _Can I be honest about something else?" She asked hesitantly._

" _Of course."_

" _I'm really afraid that we aren't going to work out." She whispered._

" _I know." He whispered back. "I'm afraid of the same thing."_

 _She looked up at his face. "But I'd rather be afraid we aren't going to work out instead of being full of regrets over not trying in the first place."_

" _I agree." He smiled, leaning down to meet her and give her a kiss._

 _As she laid her head on his shoulder after their kiss, her eyes started to feel heavy. She felt safe nestled in his arms and could feel herself starting to doze off._

That started to make sense. She must have fallen asleep and he put her in bed with him. She was still dressed in her clothes, except for her shoes. She smiled at the fact that he was a complete gentleman.

But what was she supposed to do? Get up and leave before he woke up? Stay and pretend to be asleep? Wake him up? The choices were giving her anxiety. Luckily for her the time ran out on making a choice because Harvey opened his eyes.

She watched the sleepy look on his face as he smiled at her. She remembered that he told her he did everything he could not to wake up with anyone. So she was nervous about whether he would be happy having her in his bed this morning. Once he reached over and pulled her closer to him she relaxed.

"Good morning." He whispered, kissing the top of her head.

"Morning." She whispered back.

"I hope you don't mind. You fell asleep on my shoulder. I didn't want to wake you. You looked too peaceful."

"It's fine." She assured him. "I'm sorry I fell asleep."

"It's ok." He told her. "It gave me an excuse to have you in my arms and that's never a bad thing."

"I should probably get going though." Being in his bed and in his arms was a wonderful feeling. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so safe or happy. She didn't want it to ever end. But there was no way she could stay in bed with him forever.

"Just a moment longer?" He pleaded, putting on his best smile.

She found she couldn't say no to that and smiled. "Ok. Just a moment longer." She cuddled up even closer to him and laid her head on his chest.

* * *

Harvey was typing when he saw Louis barge into his office. "What is it, Louis?"

"Are you still against the idea of promoting someone on the inside to a name partner before the merger happens?"

He sighed. "Yes, I am still against that idea."

"Ok. And you still don't mind Victoria and Robert joining our firm?"

"No." He shook his head. "I don't mind because it will benefit the firm."

"Thanks. That's all I need to know." Louis turned around to leave the room.

"Wait." He called out. "Why?"

"I just need to make sure I know what avenues are available to me and what aren't."

"And just what does that mean?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"It means what it means."

"Dammit Louis! I don't have time for your riddles."

"It isn't a riddle." Louis asserted. "I just wanted to know before the meeting tonight."

"What do you have planned?"

"Nothing." Louis shrugged, leaving the office.

He watched Louis leave and sighed. Normally Louis was harmless—just someone who could be mildly annoying. But whenever Louis was on a mission, he was a loose cannon. And it seemed his mission now was to try and tank the merger. He'd have to keep a closer watch to ensure that Louis didn't succeed.

* * *

"Ok. We've finished Harvey's clients." Jessica stated, closing the file. "Is everyone alright with the changes to the client roster?"

"I am." Harvey nodded.

"So am I." Robert nodded.

Victoria looked at Harvey and then Robert. Thankfully, none of her clients conflicted with Harvey's. There were only four conflicts and all of them were with Robert. They were able to divide up the clients in a way that was fair for both of them. That just left them to go through Louis' clients.

She hoped there weren't any conflicts because he kept giving her dirty looks. She wasn't sure what she had done to make him so angry with her, but he obviously had it in for her.

"Good." Jessica chuckled. "Louis, let's move on to your clients."

"Gladly." Louis said, opening up his folder. "I can save us all a lot of time by not going through my list of clients. There were only two conflict of interests I had and those were Cicle Pharmaceuticals and Kellogg Tires."

"Those are both Victoria's clients." Robert stated.

"Those were both Victoria's client." Louis corrected him.

"What do you mean were?" She asked.

"I called them this afternoon and told them that they were being dropped due to the merger." Louis shrugged.

"You can't do that." She scoffed.

"And yet I did." Louis informed her. "There was a conflict of interest and I solved it. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that this meeting was called to determine who was going to give up what client if a conflict appeared." She pointed out. "But you arbitrarily decided by yourself."

"So what?" Louis shrugged.

"Louis, you can't go around and do something like that." Harvey jumped in. "It isn't fair to her."

"And here you go defending her." Louis sighed.

"I don't need anyone to defend me. I can do that myself. So what exactly is your problem with me Louis?" She asked.

"I'm sure you're a great person." Louis spoke. "But you have no right to be a name partner here."

She chuckled. "I'd say you must have a problem dealing with authority when it comes to women, but I doubt that is right because you have been able to work with Jessica. So I bet you're just jealous that I have someone willing to go to bat for me to get promoted. You on the other hand, got promoted to name partner after you had resigned. That tells me your promotion wasn't entirely based on performance or merit. You toiled away here for years and kept getting passed over. But all of a sudden after you resigned you came back as a name partner. What did you do to pull that off?"

"You little…" Louis started to yell.

"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I was you." Robert cautioned.

"No, please." She stared at Louis. "Finish that thought. I dare you."

Louis laughed. Instead he turned to look at Harvey. "This one is trouble. You need to be careful with her. Are you aware that she was a runaway bride?"

"What are you talking about?" Harvey asked.

"Right before she moved to New York City, she was supposed to get married. But she ran off on the day of the wedding." Louis explained.

"What did you do?" She asked. "Did you have someone look into me?"

"Maybe." Louis shrugged.

"You're insane." She shook her head. "You know that, right?"

"I think this is getting out of hand." Jessica interjected. "Louis, my office. Now."

"I'm not…" Louis started to talk back.

"NOW." Jessica repeated. "You too Harvey."

She looked at Harvey and cold see that he was conflicted about leaving. But he got up and practically pushed Louis out of the room. She then looked over at Robert. "Well that wasn't fun."

"I don't know what has gotten into Louis." Robert sighed. "He can be temperamental sometimes, but this…this is a new low. I can't believe he did that with your clients and that he looked into your past."

"He must not have hired a good investigator." She said, laughing. "They didn't even get the story right."

"You really find this funny?" He questioned her.

"No." She shook her head. "I'm very mad. I'm just trying to contain it because I don't want to make the situation any worse than it already is."

"I'm not sure it could get any worse." Robert chuckled. "Louis really seems to have it out for you."

"I know." She sighed.


	29. Chapter 29

One Flight Down

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Do you think we should stay or go?" Robert asked with a slight chuckle.

She looked over at him. "I don't think we need to stay. I know there were other things we were going to talk about, but I doubt anyone is in the right frame of mind to talk about them tonight."

"I have to agree." He nodded, getting up. "Can I give you a ride home?"

She smiled. Although she was hoping to catch a ride home with Harvey, the last thing she really wanted was to run into Louis again tonight. It was hard enough to rein herself in and not tear his head off. If she saw him again tonight, she couldn't promise to be on her best behavior.

"That would be nice. Thanks Robert."

* * *

"What the hell was that about?" Harvey started to yell as soon as they were in Jessica's office.

"Harvey, calm down and let me handle this." Jessica told him.

"Fine." He shook his head. "Handle this so I don't rip his head off."

"Louis." Jessica's tone was much quieter than his. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"We don't need Victoria to be a name partner. She brings nothing special to the table. Robert at least brings experience, a good reputation and some big clients. I looked at Victoria's clients and they are almost all small potatoes. So why should she be a name partner? What makes her so special?" Louis explained.

"Nothing special?" He yelled. "You really are insane."

"Harvey…" Jessica admonished him.

"Why is everyone freaking out?" Louis sighed. "I saved everyone time by fixing the conflicts. You should be happy."

"It's the way you solved the conflict." Jessica pointed out. "We had a process outlined and you flat-out ignored it. It wasn't fair. Plus, you had Victoria investigated?"

"Big deal." Louis shrugged. "I just had a guy take a quick look into her life."

"It's a huge invasion of privacy." Jessica argued.

"Well name partners shouldn't have any secrets between them. We've all seen what secrets can do to a firm. So if she isn't willing to share hers, then maybe she doesn't need to be a name partner." Louis reasoned.

"I can't believe this! You're doing all of this to try and get her to back down." He scoffed. It all made sense to him now. "Louis, I swear to God, you need to stop this campaign to get her name off the wall or…"

"Or what, Harvey?" Louis asked. "What are you going to do to me?"

"I'll make your life miserable." Harvey promised.

"This is unbelievable!" Louis yelled. "You just met this woman and you're willing to go to bat for her like this? Where is your loyalty to us and this firm?"

"I didn't just meet her, Louis!" He blurted out without thinking. "I dated her in high school."

As soon as he said that, he regretted it. Victoria didn't want that coming out, especially to Louis. And now he just handed Louis more ammunition to use against her. Shit.

"Well that certainly explains a lot. Either way…" Louis scoffed. "Your loyalty to this firm is…"

"My loyalty to the firm has never been called into question." Harvey pointed out.

"Except when you knowingly brought a fraud into here and almost destroyed everything." Louis countered back.

"I fixed that mistake and was even willing to take full responsibility for it." Harvey sighed.

"You should have! It should have been you in prison instead of Mike!" Louis yelled. "After all, it was your fault he was here in the first place. You were the one who hired him!"

"Louis enough!" Jessica yelled. "Stop questioning Harvey's loyalty to the firm. And Harvey, stop engaging in this with Louis. You're both grown-ups, or you should be. Start acting like it."

"He started it." Harvey smirked.

"And I'm ending it." Jessica sighed. "Look, you two need to figure out a way to work your issues out without me because I'm not always going to be here to play referee."

"But you're so good at it." Harvey joked. The smirk on his face left when he saw Jessica giving him a hard glare.

"Harvey, let me talk to you for a moment in the hallway." Jessica then turned around. "Louis, you stay here. I'll deal with you in a moment."

He followed Jessica out into the hallway and watched as she closed the door to her office. "You need to be nicer to Louis."

"Nicer?" He scoffed. "I've been trying to be nice. But he keeps going after Victoria and trying to sink this merger."

"And why do you think that is?" Jessica questioned.

"Because he's Louis?" He guessed. "I don't know."

"Think about it." She told him. "Think about all of the times that Louis has gone off on his own and tried to help the firm. What do they all have in common?"

He thought about it for a moment. It didn't take long for him to come up with an answer. "He always lashes out when he feels like he is going to be ignored or left out."

"Ah, so there are some brains left in that body of yours." Jessica joked. "Louis hates to be left out or even thinking that he might be left out. With me leaving and you thinking that the merger is a good idea…"

"It was a disaster waiting to happen." He sighed. "I should have known when he kept trying to get me to appoint Mike or someone else to be a name partner before the merger."

"He did what?" Jessica chuckled.

"He thought it would be a good idea so that there were more of us then them." Harvey shrugged. "I should have realized that's where he was coming from and found a way to stop him. Shit, I've just made things worse by telling him about my past relationship with Victoria. Not only have I broken my word with her not to tell him, I've also made it more ingrained in his head that I won't side with him over Robert and Victoria."

"We can fix this." Jessica told him. "Well I can fix it. Let me go talk to Louis and I'll bring you back in a moment."

"Ok." He nodded. As soon as Jessica was back in the office, he pulled out his phone. He was hoping that Victoria would answer her phone but was disappointed when it went to voicemail. Rather than leaving a message, he decided to try and text her.

 _I'm sorry about Louis. We are talking to him now. What he did was unacceptable. Are you still here in the building?_

It took a few minutes before she replied.

 _No. Robert is giving me a ride home._

He was unhappy that he didn't get to take her home but at least she would get there safely. That's all that mattered. _When I am done with Louis, can I come over? I'd like to talk._

He waited several minutes for a reply and was beginning to think that she wasn't going to answer him.

 _I'm tired. Can we talk tomorrow?_

He was disappointed that they couldn't talk tonight but he understood.

 _Yeah. We can. How about dinner?_

Her reply this time came quickly.

 _Dinner would be nice. Why don't we eat at my place this time?_

He smiled. _Sounds great._

 _Goodnight Harvey._

 _Goodnight Victoria._

He put his phone back in his pocket at the right time because Jessica was motioning for him to come back inside.

"Alright." Jessica sighed. "Harvey, do you have anything to say to Louis?"

"Yes." He nodded, realizing that he had to make sure that Louis felt included. "Louis, I understand now why you are lashing out like this. You feel threatened and this is your way of trying to counteract that. It's true that I have a past connection with Victoria and I don't exactly hate the idea of them joining our firm. But that doesn't mean you will be the odd man out. We have to stick together."

"You're just saying that because you have to." Louis shook his head.

"No, I'm saying it because I mean it." He told Louis honestly. "This is our firm. They are joining it, but that doesn't mean they should get free reign to do whatever they want. We have to stick together to block anything outrageous they may want to do, like making Robert managing partner or whatever else they may want to change around here."

"Louis, do you have something you would like to say to Harvey?" Jessica asked.

"I guess I shouldn't have had Victoria investigated or gotten rid of her clients." Louis sighed.

"You're going to need to apologize to her." Harvey pointed out.

"I know." Louis nodded. "I will."

"Good." Harvey nodded. "Can we please just try to get along with them? It doesn't need to become an us versus them situation. But I can tell you right now, if you continue to act like you have been, it will become an us versus them situation—only I will choose to side with them."

"I understand." Louis nodded.

"Are we ok now?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah." Louis nodded.

"Good." Jessica smiled. "Now hug it out."

He groaned. "Do we have to?"

"Yes." Jessica nodded.

Louis came over and gave Harvey a tight hug. After a moment he lightly put his arms around Louis.

Louis pulled away and looked at the two of them. "Anyone want to go get a drink?"

"I'm in." Jessica smiled. "What about you, Specter?"

Since he wasn't going over to Victoria's, he nodded. "As long as Louis is buying the first round, count me in."

"Great." Louis smiled, rushing out of the room.

"What did you say to Louis to get him to change his attitude?" Harvey asked quietly as they purposely trailed behind Louis on the way to the elevator.

"C'mon." She laughed. "I can't give out all of my secrets."

"But how am I supposed to deal with this the next time it happens?" He questioned.

"You're fully capable of figuring that out." She smirked.


	30. Chapter 30

One Flight Down

Chapter Thirty

Harvey was heading to the elevator the next day when his phone rang. Seeing it was Marcus, he answered. "Hey."

"Hey, fart face." Marcus greeted.

"Really?" He chuckled. "Fart face? That's what you're going with this time?"

"Would you have preferred jock strap?" Marcus laughed. "Or how about dick face? I thought fart face was the nicest of those."

He scoffed. "What's going on Marcus?"

"Well I am bringing Katie there on Friday so she can see the location we chose for the restaurant. We decided to make it an overnight trip to get away from the kids for a little while. Once she heard that you were dating someone she insisted that we have dinner with you and Victoria while we are in town." Marcus explained.

He paused for a moment. He always enjoyed seeing Katie. He couldn't help but wonder if Victoria would think that dinner with Marcus and his wife was moving too fast. "Can I check with Victoria and get back to you?"

"Of course." Marcus said. "So how are things going? You mess things up yet?"

"No, I haven't." He scoffed. "Things are going pretty well."

"Good. Just let me know what Victoria says. Katie is excited about you finally having a girlfriend. You should have seen her face light up at the prospect of having another female around." Marcus informed him.

He chuckled. "I'll run it by Victoria and let you know."

"Awesome. I've gotta go. We'll talk later."

"Bye Marcus." He hung up the phone. He would ask Victoria about dinner with them tonight. Admittedly he was a little worried about their dinner. Louis had no right to look into her past, but he couldn't help being curious about the runaway bride accusation. It wasn't something he could just forget about and knew he would have to bring it up if she didn't.

* * *

Victoria was finishing up the questions for an upcoming deposition when she heard a knock on her door. She looked up.

"Louis." She was surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk for a moment?"

He looked contrite and she had to admit she was curious about his presence here. She had calmed down from the rage she felt last night so she nodded. "Come in and be sure to close the door."

She watched him close the door and sit in front of her desk. But he didn't say anything for a few minutes. All he was doing was looking around her office. She chuckled. "Well this was a good talk and very productive."

"Sorry." He apologized. "I don't know where to start."

"Why don't you start with the reason you are here?" She suggested.

"I'm here to apologize." He said, finally looking her in the eyes. "I haven't been very nice to you."

"No, you haven't." She agreed.

"I could list the excuses and reasons, but the main point is I don't like change when it comes to the firm. I like my firm the way it is and I saw you and Robert as interlopers who I needed to fight off."

That made sense to her. "Louis, I don't want to fight with you. And I certainly don't want to step on your toes. Yes, Robert and I are joining your firm and some things are inevitably going to change. But we aren't your enemy, unless you want us to be. Like it or not, this merger is happening. We're all going to be partners and we need to work together."

"I know." He nodded. "I haven't given you a chance."

"No you haven't." She agreed.

"I shouldn't have gotten rid of your clients and I shouldn't have had you investigated. That was wrong of me and I hope you can forgive me." He apologized.

"I can, as long as you stop treating me like an enemy." She told him. "We don't have to be best friends. But in order to make this merger work, we have to try and at least respect each other."

"I can try to do that." He agreed.

"Good. So can I." She nodded.

"Ok. Well that's all I had." He stood up.

"Thank you for coming by." She smiled at him.

After he was gone, the smile drained from her face. It meant a lot to her that Louis was able to come here and apologize for his behavior. Hopefully it was the start of them being able to coexist without him trying to destroy her.

But the damage was already done. He had taken two of her clients. That was forgivable. It wouldn't be too hard for her to go out and get new clients, especially once she could claim to be a name partner at a top firm. The real damage was the fact that he announced to the room last night that she was a runaway bride. While that wasn't exactly the case, it meant that tonight she was going to have no choice but to explain it all to Harvey.

It was something she hoped to put off for a while and address in her own time. Now Louis had forced her hand. She still remembered that day like it was yesterday.

 _She stood in the mirror, smoothing out her long, white dress. The ceremony was going to start soon and she had to admit she was nervous. Why she let Dean convince her to invite so many people to the wedding, she would never understand. But there were almost three hundred people out there in the church._

 _There was a knock on the door and she assumed it was her maid of honor coming to collect her. "Come in!"_

 _She turned around to see Brian, Dean's brother. "Oh. Hey. Are we almost ready to start?"_

" _Victoria. I actually just have something for you. It's from Dean."_

 _She walked over and took the envelope from Brian. She assumed it was a last minute love note or something. "Aw, how sweet of him. Thanks."_

 _As soon as Brian left the room, she opened the envelope and started reading the letter._

 _Victoria,_

 _I've been doing some thinking ever since what happened last week. While I am certain that I love you, I am not convinced you truly love me—at least not the way a wife should love a husband. I think you do genuinely love me in your own way. That's not the issue._

 _The issue is the fact that I don't think you have ever truly gotten over Harvey. It is ok to still have some residual feelings for your first love—I know a part of me will always love Sarah Tinsdale. My problem is that I believe you are actively still in love with Harvey._

 _I don't think it's a good idea for us to get married. I know this comes at a bad time and I probably should have come to you sooner. For that, I will always be sorry. But until this morning I thought I could still marry you._

 _I can't though. I can't marry someone who is still in love with another man. I suspect you have always loved him and that's why every other relationship you've had hasn't worked out. I'm sorry it took me until now to realize this. I hope you can forgive me for my horrible timing and I hope you can one day either let go of Harvey or reunite with him._

 _Dean_

She shook her head to try and stop reliving the past and took a deep breath. Tonight's conversation with Harvey was not going to be fun.

* * *

Harvey entered Louis' office, not bothering to knock. "Where were you earlier? I came by and Gretchen didn't even know where you were."

"I was at Victoria's office, apologizing to her." Louis explained.

"Really?" He was a little caught off guard by that.

"Yes." Louis nodded. "You and Jessica told me I needed to apologize. So I did. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing." He chuckled. "Nothing's wrong with that. How did the apology go?"

"Fine." Louis shrugged.

"Are you guys ok now?"

"Well we aren't going to be having slumber parties where we braid each other's hair and have pillow fights…" Louis trailed off.

"Good." He groaned. Why Louis always insisted on painting the weirdest depictions with his words he would never understand. Picturing Louis and Victoria braiding each other's hair was disturbing in many ways.

"What did Jessica say to you last night to get you to change your mind about Victoria and call a cease-fire?"

"I'm not sure I'm supposed to say." Louis scoffed.

"C'mon Louis. You can tell me."

"So you and Victoria used to date?" Louis asked.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Was it serious?"

"It was, until I screwed things up." He didn't know where Louis was going with this line of questioning.

"It explains a lot." Louis chuckled.

"What does it explain?" He couldn't help but be curious about Louis' amateur analysis of this situation.

"You obviously have feelings for her. I thought it was just a passing infatuation like all of the other women who have come and gone from your life. It was one of the reasons I didn't want her to be a name partner."

"Ok…" He still wasn't sure where this conversation was going.

"To answer your earlier question, there were a couple of things Jessica said. One of the things she talked to me about was your relationship with Victoria. She said I should embrace the fact that you are finally trying to make yourself vulnerable to someone. She said we should all be helping you instead of making it more difficult."

"Oh she did?" He didn't like the fact that Jessica was using his relationship with Victoria to get Louis to step back in line, but the deed was done.

"I don't want to stand in the way of you being in a real relationship. If you think you have a real shot at happiness with Victoria, then go for it. I'll stop trying to sabotage the merger. But just remember that I'm going to hold you to your proclamation about sticking together." Louis explained.

"I would expect nothing less." He chuckled.


	31. Chapter 31

One Flight Down

Chapter Thirty-One

Harvey knocked on Victoria's door and watched as she opened the door. She looked sexy wearing an apron over her dress. "Hey."

"Hi." She smiled. "Come on in."

"I like the new look." He told her as he followed her into the kitchen.

"Oh, you mean the apron?" She chuckled. "Sorry. I meant to take it off before you got here."

He saw that she was reaching to take it off. He moved over to her and grabbed her hands to prevent it. "I happen to think it's sexy."

"If you think this is sexy, then you should see what I wear when I clean." She smirked.

"Can't wait." He smiled, leaning in to kiss her. When they were out of air, she pulled away.

"Take one last good look." She told him, spinning around before taking the apron off.

"See that's just not fair." He chuckled. "You're even sexier without the apron. How did you do that?"

"It's just a talent of mine." She winked, going back to the counter.

"So what's for dinner tonight?" He couldn't help but be curious about it.

"Lobster mac and cheese with roasted tomatoes and a salad." She told him as she finished tossing the salad.

"That's kind of fancy." He pointed out. "Are you trying to be fancier than me?"

"Of course I am!" She laughed, turning to look at him. "You didn't know it was a contest to see whose dinner can kick the other person's ass?"

"I didn't." He laughed. "But now I'm wishing I had upped my game."

"It's ok." She smiled. "There's no shame in losing to a girl."

"If you say so." He smirked. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Nah." She shook her head as she took the salad to the table. "I've got everything under control. The only thing I need to get now is the lobster mac and cheese from the oven and then we will be ready to eat. I hope you brought your appetite."

"I did." He nodded, heading over to the table. He saw the open bottle of wine and poured a glass for both of them.

"Here we go." She placed the last part of dinner on the table and then sat down.

"It smells amazing." He complimented.

"Just wait until you taste it." She smiled. "This is one of my best recipes."

While they each fixed their plates with food, he looked over at her. "So are you doing anything this Friday night?"

"I don't think so." She shook her head. "Why? Did you want a rematch to the cook off we're in?"

He chuckled. "I actually do, but that's not what I had in mind for Friday. Marcus and his wife are going to be in town. He's showing her the location for the new restaurant. He called to see if we would go to dinner with them. I think you'd like Katie. She is…"

"Ok." She interrupted.

"Really?" He thought he would have to convince her more to get her to agree. He had a whole big speech prepared to convince her why it was a good idea.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Oh. Ok."

"You seem surprised by that."

"I kind of am." He admitted. "I thought it might go against your whole 'let's go slow' mantra for our relationship."

"Well I've already met Marcus." She pointed out. "And I'd like to meet the woman who is brave enough to put up with him on a day to day basis."

He laughed heartily. "She is indeed very brave."

"Well you can count me in for dinner." She smiled. "It could be fun."

"You may regret that." He warned her. "Katie is apparently very eager to meet my girlfriend. Apparently she thinks you are some kind of rare unicorn found out in the wild because they didn't think I'd ever find a girlfriend…"

He looked over at her and noticed that she was staring at her food. "What?"

"Nothing." She shook her head. "It's just the first time you've used that term."

"Oh." It made sense now why that gave her pause. "Well you are my girlfriend. Right?"

She looked over and gave him a small smile. "I'd like to be."

He reached over and grabbed her hand. "Then you are."

"Good." She squeezed his hand before letting go. "Now try my food. I think my dinner is going to kick your dinner's ass."

He laughed before taking a bite of the lobster mac and cheese. "Oh my God. That's good."

"I know." She smirked.

"I'll admit it. Your dinner kicked mine's ass."

"Victory is mine." She laughed.

"You win this round. But the game isn't over yet." He promised.

"I just have three words for you." She winked. "Bring. It. On."

* * *

After dinner they sat on the couch. She had her head resting on his shoulder, while his arm was draped around her. Each of them had an after dinner drink in their hands. They had somehow managed to make it through dinner without once mentioning what happened last night. She knew that she couldn't go the whole night without it coming up. Maybe it would be better if she was the one who brought it up. She took a deep breath.

"So, about last night…"

"Louis told me that he came by and apologized to you." Harvey stated, interrupting her. "I'm glad that he did. Hopefully it means he won't pull any shit like that again."

"Yeah." She nodded. "Hopefully. Did you get him to apologize?"

"It was mostly Jessica." He admitted. "She talked to Louis and got him to realize he was being unreasonable. If it had been up to me, I would have just punch Louis in the face a few times. But she used words instead."

"I'll have to remember to thank her the next time I see her." She chuckled.

"He had absolutely no right to drop your clients or look into your past like that."

"No, he didn't." She agreed.

They sat there in silence for a few more moments before she found her voice again. "I guess we should talk about what he said though."

"You mean the runaway bride comment?"

"Yeah. That's the one." She nodded, reluctantly moving away from him. She sat on the couch facing him and took a few deep breaths. "I bet you are curious about it."

"I am incredibly curious about it."

"I do appreciate you haven't been hounding me about it though." She smiled.

"I've been trying to be good." He chuckled. "So you were engaged at some point?"

"I was." She nodded. "His name was Dean. I worked with him at my firm in Chicago. We started dating. When he asked me to marry him I said yes because thought we could be happy together. I loved him and I thought we could have a good life together. He was a good man and I knew he loved me."

"So then what happened? What changed?"

"We planned this big, elaborate wedding. We had a ton of guests, we were getting married in a church, I had the big white gown…it was a stereotypical big wedding. A few minutes before the wedding was supposed to start his brother delivered a note to me. Dean wasn't going through with the wedding."

"Vic…"

"Let me finish." She stood up and started to pace around the room. "It was my fault that he couldn't go through with the wedding. So I told everyone and took the blame for it. That's why Louis thought I was a runaway bride. They all saw it as me ending things and that's the way it looked to everyone who didn't know the whole story."

 _She sat, clutching the note from Dean for several minutes. She wondered if she should have seen this coming. After all, they did have a big fight last week. But she thought they had gotten past it. Apparently Dean hadn't gotten past it though._

 _She felt like crying, but no tears were coming out. Shouldn't tears be pouring down her cheeks? She was just left at the altar. The future she had planned was now shot to hell. Shouldn't that warrant tears?_

 _She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. As much as she didn't want to, she had to go out there and let everyone know that the wedding was off._

 _She stood up and slowly walked to the door. Once she opened it, she saw her bridesmaids standing around._

" _I don't think it is time yet." Sophie told her._

" _It is." She insisted, walking straight past them. She headed down the aisle, ignoring the hushed whispers and the stares of everyone as she passed. She got to the end of the aisle where the priest was and took his microphone._

" _Excuse me everyone. Can I have your attention?" She waited until it was mostly quiet again before continuing. "Thank you for coming, but there isn't going to be a wedding today or any other day. Dean and I aren't getting married after all. In fact, we aren't together anymore. I'm not going to get into specifics but just know that it's my fault. I'm sorry that you wasted your time being here." She didn't wait for any reactions before rushed back down the aisle._

 _She practically ran back into the room she got ready in, grabbed her bag and rushed back out. She ignored the questions from everyone she passed as she hurried to the car. Dean had made plans for a limo to take them to the reception, even though she had wanted it to be a vintage car. She hopped inside, now grateful for the fact that it was a limo. That meant there was alcohol in the backseat._

" _Can you please just drive around for a while?" She asked the driver._

" _Sure thing." He nodded._

She stopped pacing in front of the window and downed the rest of her drink. Harvey was quiet and she wasn't sure she had the courage to look at his face. The last thing she wanted was for him to pity her. She could see through the reflection of the window that he had gotten up and was heading over to her.

"Vic, I'm sorry." He apologized.

"It's ok." She shrugged.

"No it isn't." He argued, standing next to her and grabbing her hand in his. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Though I would be lying if I say I wasn't thrilled that you didn't get married. What happened to make him back out like that?"

She turned to face him. "You happened."


	32. Chapter 32

One Flight Down

Chapter Thirty-Two

"You happened." She said, trying not to make it sound like an accusation. She saw the look of confusion on his face and knew she had to explain further.

"I happened?" He questioned softly. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's a long story." She warned.

"Then I guess it's good the only thing I had planned for tonight was spending time with you. And for the record, I happen to like long stories."

She appreciated his attempt to interject some humor into the situation and gave him a small smile. "It all goes back to a couple of weeks before the wedding. I started having these dreams…really vivid dreams."

"What were they about?"

"You." She whispered. "More specifically you and me."

"Oh."

She could see that she had caught him slightly off guard with that statement so she gave him a moment to let it sink in before continuing. She remembered every dream from that period as clearly as if they were real memories.

" _Hey, did you remember to tell your assistant that he has to pick up our dry cleaning today?" Harvey asked as he poured them both a cup of coffee._

" _Yes." She answered, putting on her earring as she walked up to him. She gave him a quick kiss. "Hunter will pick it all up today. Did you remember to have your assistant make reservations for dinner tonight?"_

 _She watched as his face paled._

" _Why? What's tonight?" He asked._

" _It's our tenth wedding anniversary." She reminded him. "Harvey…Please tell me you didn't really forget. Did you?"_

 _He started to grin and chuckled as he grabbed her hand. He took the coffee cup out of her hand and placed it back on the counter. Then he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Now how could I forget the best day of my life?"_

 _She smiled and playfully punched his shoulder. "You had me worried for a moment. So what do you have planned?"_

" _That's for me to know and you to find out tonight." He leaned in to kiss her. When he pulled away, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a jewelry box. "In the meantime…"_

" _What's this?" She chuckled as he put it in her hands._

" _Open it and find out." He whispered._

 _She opened it to find a diamond necklace with their birthstones. There was a circular diamond in the center and it was surrounded by a circle of tiny sapphires and then a circle of tiny garnets. "It's beautiful."_

" _Not as beautiful as you though." He told her, grabbing it from her hand so he could put it on her._

 _She pulled her hair off to one side so he could put the necklace on her. "Thank you Harvey."_

" _You're welcome." He told her, starting to kiss his way up and down her neck. "Happy anniversary."_

" _You know we have to get into the office, right?" She giggled._

" _I think we can afford to be a little late." He whispered into her ear._

" _So earlier wasn't enough for you?" She turned to face him and raised an eyebrow._

" _It's never enough around you." He explained._

"You can probably guess how the rest of the dream went." She told him, walking over to pour herself another drink.

"Yeah." He said.

She looked over at him. "I had dreams like that a lot, where we were married and living this completely domestic life."

"How did…" He trailed off.

She knew what he was asking and downed the drink before answering. "Apparently I ended up talking in my sleep. I called out your name and Dean heard me."

" _How did you sleep last night?" Dean asked as they ate dinner._

" _Ok." She shrugged. It was weird that he was asking because usually he didn't ask things like that._

" _I'm just wondering because you seemed like you were having an intense dream." He mentioned._

 _She started to worry because she had a dream about Harvey last night. "Really?"_

" _Yeah." He nodded. "You kept calling out Harvey's name."_

 _She closed her eyes for a second and sighed. "Oh."_

" _That's all you're going to say?" He chuckled. "Oh?"_

" _I'm not sure what you want me to say." She answered honestly._

" _Maybe you could explain to me why you are dreaming about your ex-boyfriend."_

" _It's just one dream." She shrugged._

" _I'd be ok with that if it was true." He pointed out. "But you've been saying his name in your sleep a lot lately."_

" _Dean, I can't control my dreams." She argued. "They happen when I'm asleep. Are you seriously mad at me for something that happens when I'm asleep?"_

" _I probably shouldn't be mad, but you're dreaming about him. Of all the men in the world you could be dreaming about, it has to be him." He sighed. "Our wedding is in one week and you're dreaming about another man that you shared a past with. Are you seriously saying I shouldn't be mad about that?"_

" _I'm saying you should understand that people don't have any control over their dreams!" She exclaimed._

" _I get that. I really do, Victoria." He sighed, putting his fork down on his plate. "But usually when someone is constantly dreaming about someone from their past, it means something."_

" _It's not constantly." She argued._

" _But it's a lot." He sighed. "Isn't it?"_

 _She decided to be honest with him. "It is. But it doesn't mean anything. I swear. You know I love you." She reached over and grabbed his hand with hers. "I'm marrying you in a week, not Harvey or any other man."_

" _How would you feel if I started dreaming about another woman all the time?" He asked._

" _I probably wouldn't like it but I would get over it." She answered._

" _Are you having cold feet?" He asked. "Is that what these dreams are symbolizing?"_

" _No." She shook her head. "I'm not having cold feet."_

" _Do you still love him?" He asked._

" _I love you and I have no second thoughts about this wedding. I love you and only you."_

"I lied to him that night." She explained. "I told him the dreams didn't mean anything. I told him I wasn't having second thoughts. I told him that I only loved him. But it was all a lie. The dreams did mean something. I was having second thoughts. And while I did love him, he wasn't the only one I was thinking about."

She watched as Harvey came over to her. "Is that why you decided to take the blame when he ran out on you?"

"I had to. It was my fault." She admitted.

"No it wasn't." He argued. "Dean shouldn't have walked out on you the way he did. His timing was horrible and you shouldn't have had to go through that. You shouldn't have taken on the blame or the responsibility for calling it all off with everyone."

"But he was right about so many things." She pointed out. "Every relationship I've had has ended because I couldn't give them my whole heart. He was no different. And I wanted him to be different. God, I wanted so badly to be happy with him. I wanted to be married and move on and just be happy for once instead of…"

"I messed that up for you." He said softly.

"I shouldn't have blamed you. It's not your fault. It's mine. And I had to take the blame that day because I was going to marry him knowing that I was in love with someone else." She turned to walk away but was stopped when he grabbed her hand and pulled her close. She soon found herself enveloped in a tight hug. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being back in his arms.

"It makes so much more sense now why you were worried about us working together and dating. It must have been hard to work with Dean after that."

"I actually didn't go back to work after the wedding. Robert and his wife flew in for the wedding. The next morning I asked him to help me find a job. He convinced me to take a job with him and I moved to New York City two days later. He saved me from having to stay in Chicago and deal with the fallout of everything that happened." She explained.

"So that's how you ended up working with Robert. I wondered about that." He nodded. "And is Dean the reason why you are hesitant for other people to know that we are dating?"

"Yeah." She nodded, pulling away from him so she could look at his face.

"Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I can't be sorry that you didn't marry him." He told her. "I'm actually incredibly glad you didn't marry him. I just wish it didn't cause you so much pain."

"I hate that I hurt Dean." She told him. "I hate that it had to end that way. It hurt a lot and was the reason I had to leave Chicago. But if I'm being completely honest, I can't hate that our wedding was called off. Once I got over the hurt of everything, I was happy that we didn't get married. It wouldn't have worked out long term anyway."

"I want to say something but I don't want to freak you out."

She had a feeling she knew what he was about to say—at least she knew what she hoped he was about to say. "Go on."

"The reason I'm glad you didn't marry him is because in the back of my mind…for all of these years…there was a part of me that always considered you to be still mine. And I don't mean in a possessive, chauvinistic way. I mean I've always considered you to still be my love and no one else's. I love you Vic. I always have and I always will."

She started to smile. "That doesn't freak me out."

He smiled. "Really?"

"Really." She nodded. "Because I love you too."

She watched as he started to lean in slowly. She wasn't caught off guard by his kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. He led her to the wall, effectively trapping her there. But she wasn't complaining.

"Harvey…" She whispered when they finally broke apart to catch their breaths.

"Yes?" He whispered back, caressing her face.

"What are we doing?"

"I don't know, but I know what I hope we are doing." He told her.

"What is that?" She chuckled.

"This." He pressed himself up against her and leaned in to start kissing her neck.

"Are you sure this is a good idea right now?" She asked with her eyes closed.

"I happen to think this is a great idea." He whispered into her ear as he let his hand slide underneath the skirt part of her dress. He started teasing her entrance. First with one finger, then two. "Do you want me to stop? I'll stop if you want me to."

She thought about it for a moment. The smart thing would be to say yes. Things wouldn't get even more complicated. But she was tired of being smart. "No. God, don't stop."

"We're going to need to move this into the bedroom then so I can do this properly."

She opened her eyes and stared at him before kicking off her heels. She watched as he took off his shoes. Then she grabbed his face and started to kiss him. His hands were busy sliding down the zipper of her dress. She shimmied her hips to get the dress to fall down before moving her hands to his belt. It only took her a moment to pull his pants down.

He stepped out of his pants. She went to work getting the buttons on his shirt undone. Once they were all opened, she pressed her hands against his chest before sliding the shirt off of him.

He put a hand under her chin and brought her eyes to meet his. "Are you sure about this?"

She hesitated for a moment. The hesitation was about the fact that it had been twenty years since they last had sex. But she pushed her nervousness aside. "I'm sure."

She yelped as he picked her up bridal style and carried her into the bedroom.


	33. Chapter 33

One Flight Down

Chapter Thirty-Three

The next morning, Harvey woke up and smiled when he realized he was in Victoria's bedroom. It meant that last night wasn't a dream. Last night really happened. They were actually honest with each other about their feelings.

Normally being vulnerable like that would make him want to run away as fast as possible. It would make him scared and he would put his armor back up. But surprisingly, he felt at peace and happy.

He turned over, expecting to see Victoria next to him. But her side of the bed was empty.

He frowned. A part of him wondered if her absence was a bad sign. He wondered if she was having second thoughts about last night. There was only one way to find out. He had to get up and find her. He pulled the covers back to get out of bed when he heard her voice from the doorway.

"You're up."

He looked over and saw that she was coming in with two cups of coffee in her hands. "Yeah."

"I was just getting ready to come wake you up." She told him. "I didn't know if you had any early meetings or anything."

"I don't, actually." He shook his head. He watched as she came over to his side of the bed and sat facing him. Then she handed him a cup.

"Good morning." She smiled.

"Good morning." He smiled back, taking the cup. He took a sip and then placed it on her nightstand. "Thanks for the coffee. But I was kind of hoping you would still be in bed with me when I woke up."

"Well in the interest of full disclosure, I had to get up because I was nervous. I didn't know how to be here when you woke up." She admitted.

"Why?" After looking at her he realized she was still nervous.

"Last night…You can't deny that it changed things between us." She explained.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." He chuckled nervously, starting to get worried.

"No." She assured him. "It's definitely not a bad thing. It's just…I don't know how to explain it."

He took the coffee cup out of her hand and put it next to his on her night stand. Then he took her hands in his. "It's ok. I feel like things have changed too. But I'm excited about the changes."

"I am too." She told him. "But I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous and scared. Don't get me wrong. I meant what I said last night. I do love you. I just…we didn't work out as a couple the last time."

"To be fair, we were just kids then. I'd like to think we've both learned since then." He interjected.

"True. And I'm not trying to get you to promise anything or make any kind of commitment to me. It's just the thought of breaking up again scares me. I've spent so long trying to deny that I still love you and that I still want you."

"I…"

"Please let me finish." She asked.

He nodded.

"Last night and early this morning was wonderful. Being with you like that…I wasn't sure that would ever happen again and a part of me worried that maybe that old spark wasn't going to be there."

"But it was." He couldn't help but interject that.

"It definitely was." She smiled. "When I woke up this morning, I saw you next to me. I just wanted to wrap my arms around you and never let go.'

"I could deal with that." He smirked. "But instead of doing that, you left."

"I did." She nodded. "I think it's clear after what I told you last night that I have issues of abandonment just like you. A part of me is worried that we won't work out."

It was a fair point and he couldn't argue with it.

"Look, I can't promise you anything about the future." He decided to be honest with her since she was being honest with him. "Anything can happen and that's scary. But it's also exciting. I'm so happy to have you back in my life. I know things are changing but we can figure it all out together."

"I'd like that." She nodded.

"So maybe the first thing we could figure out together is just how late we're going to be getting into the office today." He wrapped his arms around her waist and flipped her over onto the bed so that she was on her back next to him.

"Harvey…" She giggled.

"Do you have any meetings this morning?" He asked.

"I have a meeting with Robert at eleven." She told him.

He looked over at the clock. "That's in four hours. So that's enough time."

She laughed again. "Enough time for what, exactly?"

"For me to have my way with your body and then take you out to breakfast." He replied.

"Oh, well I guess that's ok as long as I get breakfast afterwards…" She smirked.

He chuckled softly before softly caressing her cheek with his hand. "God, I love you."

"Right back at ya." She said before reaching over to kiss him.

* * *

"I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up." Robert laughed.

"I know. I'm sorry." Victoria apologized as she entered Robert's office and closed the door behind her. "A client meeting ran long."

She didn't like lying to Robert, but somehow she didn't think telling him that she had spent all morning in bed with Harvey was the best idea in the world. It was bad enough that she was almost ten minutes late for their meeting. She could only imagine his reaction if he knew the real reason for her tardiness.

"It's ok." He assured her. "Have a seat."

She sat down in the chair and opened her notebook in case she had to make notes.

"So how is the class action suit going?" Robert asked.

"Harvey and I have a meeting set up for Monday with the lawyers for the other side. Now that we have the report from our medical expert and we have gone through it with a fine tooth comb, we feel confident we can get them to agree to a very generous settlement. We should be able to force their hand and avoid going to court."

"Good." Robert nodded. "So that means we probably only have about a week or two until we can complete the merger."

"Looks like it." She nodded. A part of her was still worried about going to work with Harvey. But she decided to trust that things would work out.

"Are you and Harvey getting along alright?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded, trying not to give anything away on her face. She didn't want to deal with Robert telling her she was wrong to get involved with Harvey.

"Good. What about you and Louis?"

"He came by and apologized for his behavior." She explained. "I think we are ok but I guess only time will tell on that one."

"Good. I think we should wait until after your meeting on Monday to start discreetly talking to the lawyers we want to take with us."

"Sounds like a good plan." She agreed.

"Great." He smiled. "So now that business is out of the way, why don't you come over for dinner on Friday night? Rachel and Mike are coming over as well. If you are there, I won't get stuck talking to Mike by myself."

She froze trying to think of a reason why she couldn't go on Friday night. "I actually have a potential client meeting planned for Friday night."

"Oh."

She saw the look of disappointment on his face and cringed on the inside. It would be so much nicer if she could just tell him what her true plans were. She felt horrible for continuing to lie to him. But she knew that Robert wouldn't approve of her choices right now. So she had no choice but to create a little white lie.

"I'm sorry." She apologized. "It looks like you will be stuck talking to Mike."

"I guess there are worse things." He chuckled. "But I am nervous about it. I'll be telling Rachel about the merger."

"You still haven't told her yet?" That was surprising.

"I haven't because I don't know how she is going to react." Robert admitted. "You know how she values her professional independence from me."

"I think she will surprise you and be ok with it once the shock wears off."

"Let's hope so." He chuckled. "Ok. You're excused from Friday night but you will have to come over for dinner soon. Laura wants to celebrate you becoming a name partner, and I want to celebrate it too."

"I'd like that." She smiled.

* * *

"Hey. Are we still on for drinks tonight?" Mike asked as he walked into Harvey's office.

To be honest, he had completely forgotten about it. They had made the plans for drinks a couple of weeks ago since they weren't spending as much time together. Although he wanted to spend tonight with Victoria, he knew that he couldn't and shouldn't bail on his friend.

"Of course." He nodded.

"Great." Mike smiled. "How about the Carnegie Club at 7?"

"Sounds great." He told his friend, watching as Mike left his office. He felt bad forgetting about Mike. He picked up his cell phone and made a call.

"Hey." Victoria greeted. "I was just thinking about you."

"Really?" He couldn't help but smirk.

"Yeah. I got back to my office and found a random doughnut sitting on my desk."

"Hmm…maybe your assistant left it."

"The funny thing is there was note left with it and it wasn't from my assistant. It was from this very handsome man that I spent the night and morning with." She chuckled.

"I felt bad that we got so carried away that I never got a chance to get you breakfast." He admitted, loving that she called him very handsome.

"So you had a doughnut delivered?" She laughed.

"Well I did pretty much promise breakfast. I felt guilty and didn't want to go back on my word." He explained.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Next time I'll make sure we don't go for that extra round so that it's a better breakfast than that."

"It's fine." She laughed again. "Did you hear me complaining about it earlier?"

He couldn't help but chuckle as he thought back. "No. I remember hearing you say several things over and over again, but they weren't complaints about food."

"So did you call just to check to make sure I got the doughnut?" She questioned.

"No." He scoffed lightly. "I called because I forgot I'm supposed to have drinks with Mike tonight. I know we had talked about maybe getting dinner, but…"

"Of course." She interrupted him. "Go ahead and have fun with Mike. It's fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked. "I could always try to move it…"

"You don't have to do that." She assured him. "I swear, it is fine."

"You're the best." He praised.

"I do try." She laughed.

"Maybe I could get out of drinks a little early and we could meet up later?" He suggested.

"Are you really trying to pre-arrange a booty call for tonight?" She teased him.

"Maybe." He laughed heartily. "Is it working?"

"Maybe." She told him. "We'll see."

"Ok. I'll talk to you later."

"Definitely. Bye."

He stared at his phone after she hung up. Drinks with Mike would be fun. After all, he didn't get to see or hang out with his friend much anymore. But he still wished he could also spend the night with Victoria. Now that they admitted their feelings to each other, he just wanted to make up for lost time by never letting her out of his sight.

* * *

"You. Me. Drinks. Tonight." Katrina said as she entered the office. "I know it is a weeknight but I'm not taking no for an answer this time."

She smiled. "Ok."

"Ok? Really?"

"You seem surprised." She chuckled.

"Normally you find a reason to say no." Katrina laughed.

"Well today I'm finding a reason to say yes." She smiled.

"Great!" Katrina smiled back. "I'll text you the address of a new place I've been dying to try. How about 7:30?"

"Sounds great."


	34. Chapter 34

One Flight Down

Chapter Thirty-Four

"So what's new with you?" Harvey asked Mike as they received their first drinks. His was of course a Macallen 18, while Mike chose bourbon. They were sitting in a booth in the corner, with a clear view of the rest of the place.

"You mean besides Louis trying to make me a name partner all of a sudden?" Mike laughed. "Seriously, what was that all about?"

"Rachel didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Oh. Maybe Rachel doesn't know yet." He thought aloud.

"Know what Harvey?" Mike asked. "You aren't making much sense right now."

He sighed. "Can you keep a secret?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "I kept it a secret that I wasn't really a lawyer, didn't I? I think you know I can keep a secret."

"Actually, you did end up telling Rachel." He pointed out.

"Well that's different." Mike chuckled.

"Yeah. You were trying to get into her pants at the time." Harvey joked.

"Hell, I'm still trying to get into her pants sometimes." Mike scoffed. "But yeah I can keep a secret."

"Jessica is moving to Chicago. And she has set up a merger between us and Robert. He and Victoria are joining as name partners. Louis was freaking out and trying to add another friendly name to the wall before the merger so we would have a tie-breaker vote." He explained.

"Wow." Mike sighed. "That's a lot of information to take in at once. I don't think Rachel knows about this yet. But maybe that's why Robert asked us over for dinner on Friday night."

"It probably is. You should practice your surprised look."

"I don't think it will matter because I doubt anyone will be looking at me." Mike laughed. "Once Rachel finds out about this, she will steal their attention. She isn't going to like this."

"I know." He nodded.

"Do you like this?" Mike asked. "I know how you are typically against any kind of merger. I remember the last time we tried to merge with Darby."

"Yeah. But I'm ok with this one though."

Mike smirked. "Does it have to do with a certain person who just walked in the door?"

He turned to look at the door to the Carnegie Club and saw Victoria there with Katrina. They were laughing about something as they walked up to the bar. He couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that they both ended up at the same bar tonight. "I can say with absolute certainty that it has nothing to do with Katrina."

Mike rolled his eyes. "I meant Victoria."

"I know exactly who you meant."

"So it does have to do with her!" Mike exclaimed. "I knew it!"

"Mike…"

"You like her." Mike's tone was softer now.

"I do." He nodded, trying to be careful about how much he let slip about it. He already accidentally told Louis about their past. Jessica knew before Victoria made it clear she didn't want anyone to know yet. Donna knew bits and pieces, and he was certain she had figured out that he was with Victoria this morning. Even though she didn't say anything, she had that patented Donna stare that always says 'I know everything'.

"What's the story between you two?" Mike asked.

"Who says there is a story?" He questioned.

"There's always a story." Mike laughed. "Besides, you saw her on the street that day and you went pale. Ever since you two started working that class action suit you've been strangely happier. And let's not forget about how close you two looked at Robert's party. I thought for sure you two were on a date instead of that 'friends' bullshit you were trying to sell me."

"I don't know what you want me to say." He chuckled.

"You don't really have to say anything. Your eyes say everything."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked with a heavy sigh.

"Ever since you saw she was here, you can't take your eyes off of her for more than fifteen to twenty seconds at a time. It's like your eyes just gravitate towards her. It was like that at Robert's party too." Mike explained.

"I didn't know you were that obsessed with me that you monitor who I look at." He laughed.

"Ok, how about the fact that you look at her the same way I look at Rachel." Mike challenged.

He stopped laughing and looked Mike in the eyes. "Mike…"

"Whether or not you want to admit it, I know you pretty well by now. You've taught me how to read the situation and the man."

"I've created a monster." He sighed.

"Just call me Frankenstein." Mike chuckled. "But don't deny it."

"I'm not going to deny it." He made a split second decision. "This is something else that needs to stay just between us. Ok?"

"I'll put it in the vault and it will never come out." Mike promised.

"I knew Victoria back in high school when she moved to our school…"

* * *

"I'm so glad you came out with me tonight." Katrina smiled after they ordered their drinks.

"I'm glad too." She smiled back. "And this place is very swanky."

"I've heard nothing but good things about it and I wanted to try it, but I didn't want to come by myself. I thought maybe sitting at the bar alone was a little too pathetic." Katrina explained.

"It's not pathetic." She corrected her. "It's brave. But I get what you are saying."

The bartender placed their drinks in front of them and she picked up her Chardonnay. She then held it up so that she and Katrina could clink their glasses. "Here is to girls' night and having fun."

"I'll definitely drink to that." Katrina smiled, clinking glasses. "Oh. You aren't going to believe this."

"What?"

"Behind you, in the corner booth, are Harvey and his sidekick Mike."

She chuckled as she looked back and saw that Katrina was right. They seemed to be deep into a conversation. What were the odds that of all the bars in Manhattan they both chose the same one?

"What's so bad about them being here?" She asked, curious about why Katrina didn't necessarily like Harvey. "You've never told me the whole story about this."

Katrina sighed. "It all began when I was in the DA's office and I had a case against Harvey…"

* * *

"So that's everything." Harvey said. He felt bad for telling another person about his relationship with Victoria, but he knew that he could count on Mike to not say anything. He didn't really tell Mike everything though. He kept some things private.

"Wow." Mike sighed. "You know that Robert is not going to be happy about this, right?"

"I know." He nodded. "He has already told me to stay away from Victoria."

"I'm not surprised. Victoria is very important to him. He treats her like a part of his family. There are pictures of her in his study at home. Hell, I'm his son-in-law and there aren't even pictures of me in there. All the pictures from the wedding just have Rachel in them."

He couldn't help but laugh at that fact. "Trust me. I'm well aware of how close they are. That's why you can't say anything to Rachel. If she lets it slip to her father…"

"So you're afraid of Robert?" Mike teased.

"No." He shook his head. "If anything, I'm afraid of Victoria, which I realize now sounds equally bad."

Mike laughed. "I get it though. You don't want to upset her."

"No, I don't." He agreed. "I'm also not looking forward to Robert's reaction though. He still hasn't forgiven me for letting you into Rachel's life."

"He will eventually." Mike said. "At least I hope so."

He looked back over at the bar. He wasn't even sure that Victoria knew he was there because he had yet to see her look in this direction. He then realized a way to get her to notice him.

"I am glad to see you so happy though."

Mike's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to look at his friend. "It's nice to be happy."

He saw the waitress and flagged her down.

"Can I get you gentlemen another round?" She asked in a pleasant voice.

"Yes. Also, can you find out what those two women at the bar ordered and give them another round? Put it on my tab." He asked. "In fact, put their whole tab on mine. They can order whatever they want for the rest of the night."

"Sure thing." She smiled before leaving.

Mike laughed. "While I'm sure that Victoria will appreciate the free drinks, something tells me Katrina won't be as pleased."

"I know." He nodded. "But I'm fairly certain that Robert and Victoria will bring Katrina over to the firm with them. It doesn't hurt to try and make nice."

"It's worth a shot." Mike chuckled. "And it would be nice to work with Katrina again. I felt back when Jessica had to fire her."

"I did too." He admitted.

* * *

"Ok." Victoria nodded at the end of Katrina's story. "I can see why you would harbor some resentment towards Harvey."

"I don't even really resent him." Katrina explained. "I just…I wanted to have a mentor. I thought he would be that mentor but he was too busy with Mike to even notice I was there. And then I thought I had a good mentor in Louis, but that didn't work out. Now I don't feel like I'm on the right path with my career anymore. I felt like I had a purpose when I worked at Pearson Specter Litt. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to have the job I have now. I just miss that place sometimes."

"Can you keep a secret?" She made a split-second decision.

"Yeah, of course. What is it?"

"Robert and I weren't going to say anything to anyone until after Monday. But I think maybe I should make an exception for you. What would you say to going back to Pearson Specter Litt and having Louis as a mentor again?"

"I would say that would be great, but I highly doubt that would ever happen." Katrina laughed.

"It will happen, if you say yes."

"Yes to what?"

She smiled. "Jessica is moving to Chicago. Robert and I are breaking away from Rand Kaldor and Zane. We're going to be name partners and replace Jessica at Pearson Specter Litt."

"Holy shit." Katrina cursed softly. "Are you serious?"

"Completely." She nodded.

"You're going to be a name partner?"

"Looks like it."

Katrina smiled and gave her a hug. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." She smiled. "So are you coming back to your old firm with us?"

"Of course." Katrina nodded.

"Wonderful!" She saw the bartender place another round in front of them. "Oh. We didn't order another round yet."

"They are actually from the gentleman in the corner booth. And he is taking care of your tab tonight as well." The bartender answered before leaving them.

"Is he trying to buy us off?" Katrina scoffed.

"He's trying to be nice. So be nice back and drink up!" She picked up the drink, turned to face Harvey and smiled.

* * *

Later that night, Victoria took a deep breath and knocked on Harvey's door. She knew that he left the bar with Mike about an hour before she left. She would have left around the same time but it wasn't easy to get Katrina to stop talking and drinking. Turns out when Katrina doesn't have to pay for her own drinks she orders more than usual. She finally used the excuse of having an early client breakfast so that she could get out of there. She now hoped that Harvey wasn't asleep already. Fortunately it only took him a few moments to open the door.

She looked him up and down. He was shirtless, with sleep pants that were hanging dangerously low on his hips. She had the perfect view of his chiseled body and she couldn't help but stare. If he was trying to look irresistible, he was succeeding.

"Hey. My eyes are up here." He teased.

She smirked and looked at him. "But I can look at your eyes anytime I want. I don't always get to see this."

"You can see this anytime you want now." He promised her.

"I'm definitely going to hold you to that." She smirked. "Can I come in?"

"I was hoping you would." He stepped out of the way so that she could enter his place.

"I can't believe we both ended up at the same place tonight." She marveled.

"I know." He nodded, closing the door behind them. "Did you have a good time with Katrina?"

"I did." She nodded as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you for picking up our tab, but that wasn't necessary."

"I know, but I wanted to." He pulled her close and unzipped her skirt.

"Did you have a good time with Mike?" She asked, stepping out of her shoes and the skirt that was now pooled at her feet.

"I did." He pulled her blouse over her head.

She leaned in and kissed him, enjoying the fact that he was letting his hands roam around her body. "Harvey…"

"Yes?"

"Take me to bed."

She watched as a huge smile formed on his face.

"I thought you'd never ask."


	35. Chapter 35

One Flight Down

Chapter Thirty-Five

"What do you think of this one?" She asked as she twirled around in front of Harvey.

"I think this dress looks just as great on you as the other two." He chuckled. "You are beautiful and you could wear a trash bag and still look beautiful. But if we don't leave within the next five minutes we are going to be late meeting Marcus and Katie for dinner."

"Ok." She nodded. "Sorry. I'll just wear this dress."

"It's ok." He assured her.

She went over and placed a quick kiss on his lips. "I'm just nervous."

"Why?" He chuckled. "You already know Marcus and he thinks you're great. Katie is excited to meet you and she will love you too. There's nothing to be worried about."

She walked over and picked out a pair of shoes that would match the dark green dress she already had on. "That's just it. Who knows what Marcus has told her about me. What if she meets me and decides she hates me?"

"There is no way that could ever happen." He came over and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Everyone in my family has always fallen in love with you. I love you. My parents loved you. Marcus loves you. Katie will get to know you and end up loving you too because your personality is irresistible to all Specters."

"I hope so." She smirked. "I'd hate to break my streak."

He chuckled. "Come on. Let's go."

She put her hand in his as they left her apartment and headed towards the elevator. As they waited, his phone went off. She watched him fish it from his pocket. He read the message, laughed and then put his phone back in his pocket.

"Something funny you want to share with the rest of the class?" She questioned.

"Mike is at Robert's house for dinner tonight. Apparently Robert just told them about the merger. Rachel is not pleased. There is a lot of yelling going on." He explained.

They got into the elevator and she watched the doors close. "I guess it's a good thing I wasn't able to be there then."

"Robert invited you?" He looked over at her. He shouldn't have been surprised by that but he was actually. Mike made it seem like the dinner tonight was a family dinner. But perhaps he underestimated how much Victoria meant to Robert if he was inviting her to a family dinner.

"Yes." She nodded. "But thankfully you had already asked me dinner so I had an escape clause. I tried to be supportive and tell Robert it would be ok but I knew there would be yelling. Thank you for a reason to skip it."

"You're very welcome. I'll be your excuse anytime you need one." He smiled, leaning in to give her a quick kiss before the elevator doors opened again.

* * *

Harvey pulled out her chair for her and watched as she sat down. They ended up getting to the restaurant before Marcus and Katie. "You know, you really do look incredibly sexy in that dress." He whispered into her ear. "Though I can't wait to get you out of it later."

She grinned. "I guess I did pick the right dress after all."

"You certainly did." He said, putting his hand on the small of her back and rubbing small circles on her exposed skin.

"Sorry we are late." Marcus apologized as he headed to the table with Katie following him.

"Someone decided to take a phone call from the restaurant and it ran longer than he thought it would." Katie laughed. "Harvey. It's been too long."

"Yes it has. You look great. How are things?" He got up and gave Katie a hug, kissing her cheek.

"Same old, same old." Katie laughed. "But I can't complain."

He watched as Katie looked over at Victoria.

"You must be Victoria." Katie smiled. "I have heard so much about you. It's nice to meet you in person."

"You too." Victoria smiled.

Katie sat down on the other side of Victoria and they immediately started chatting so he turned his attention to Marcus.

"Hey Marcus." He greeted.

"Hey Captain Dickweed." Marcus laughed, pulling him into a quick hug.

"Are you ever going to stop with the names?" He sighed, feigning annoyance. The truth was that he liked the fact that Marcus insulted him. As weird as it sounded, it made him feel validated about the fact that they were close again. When they weren't talking much, Marcus only called him Harvey. Now that Marcus was coming up with different insult names every time they spoke, it made him feel like they had the same kind of relationship they had growing up. It was strangely comforting.

"Never bro." Marcus laughed.

"So how did Katie like the restaurant site?" He asked as they sat back down at the table.

"I think she likes it." Marcus explained. "Truthfully, we didn't spend much time there. I just used the restaurant as a cover to get her out of town. I mainly brought her here as a little getaway from the kids. She deserves a break from them every once and a while. And then once she found out about your girlfriend…well there was no keeping her from coming with me. I have a feeling she would have packed herself into my suitcase if she had to in order to meet Victoria."

"I see." He chuckled.

"Speaking of, are you guys calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend?" Marcus laughed. "Or are you just ambiguously hooking up?"

He rolled his eyes. "We are boyfriend/girlfriend, though that seems so juvenile to call it that."

Saying it aloud made it seem real but it didn't fill him with as much dread or anxiety as he imagined it would. In the past, even thinking about the term girlfriend filled him with a profound sense of nervousness. Maybe it had to do with the person who the term personified.

"That's great." Marcus smiled. "Just remember…don't screw this up."

He couldn't help but scoff. "I know. You say that every time we talk."

"Only because it is important." Marcus laughed.

* * *

It amazed her how warm Katie was towards her. As soon as they sat down, they started talking and didn't stop. It was like they had known each other for years and were best friends. The conversation never seemed to hit an awkward spot. It was nice to find out they had so many things in common. They were done with dinner and waiting on dessert and she couldn't remember saying anything more than a quick hello to Marcus. The rest of the time she had been talking to Katie.

She stood next to Katie in front of the mirror in the ladies room as they reapplied their lipsticks.

"Can I tell you something?" Katie asked, putting her lipstick back in her purse and looking over.

"Of course." She nodded.

"I was actually prepared to not like you tonight." Katie admitted, looking sheepish.

"What?" She chuckled. "Why?"

"Over the years, Marcus has talked about you. We would be talking about how we were worried about Harvey and your name would come up. Or we would be talking about something that happened when he was younger and the story would include you. He always had such great things to say about you and I guess a part of me had doubts that you were as special as Marcus remembered. I often wondered if he was exaggerating about you. But the joke is on me because I think you are pretty cool. He wasn't exaggerating at all."

She couldn't help but smile. "Well I think you are pretty cool too."

"You know, you are the first woman Harvey has ever brought around us, or even mentioned more than once." Katie said.

She wasn't surprised by that, given his reluctance to be in a relationship.

"I don't know if you are aware of this, but he really does love you." Katie informed her. "I can tell because all through dinner he kept looking at you constantly, like he was afraid you would disappear."

That comment caught her off guard. She wasn't aware that Harvey was watching her so much because she was too busy trying to get to know Katie.

"I love him too." She admitted.

"I think it is wonderful that you two found each other again. I haven't ever seen Harvey this happy."

She wasn't sure exactly what to say to that so she kept quiet and finished fixing her lipstick.

"Ready to go back out there?" Katie asked.

"Sure." She stuffed her lipstick into her purse and followed Katie back out to the table.

* * *

"So was it as bad as you thought it might be?" Harvey asked her as Ray drove them back to their building.

She looked over at him and smiled. "No. It wasn't. Katie is great."

"She really liked you." He chuckled, thinking back to when they were leaving the restaurant.

" _Harvey, you're going to have to come up and see the kids soon." Katie said as she walked over to give him a goodbye hug._

" _I will. I promise." He smiled, wrapping his arms around his sister-in-law._

" _And bring Victoria." Katie whispered. "I now see why Marcus always said he wanted Victoria as a sister-in-law because I have to agree with him. She makes you happy. Don't let that slip away."_

" _I'll do my best." He chuckled nervously._

"I know it was silly to be so nervous about meeting her." She acknowledged.

"It wasn't that silly." He assured her.

"Yes it was." She argued with a grin on her face. "I just…I can't help wanting to fit into your world, every part of your world."

He reached over and grabbed her hand. "I want that too."

"I know you aren't thrilled about keeping our relationship a secret with the people you care about at work."

"No, I'm not." He said, feeling guilty about the fact that pretty much everyone close to him at work at least knew about their old relationship.

"But you have respected my reasons for it and I appreciate that." She smiled, grabbing a hold of his hand. "So if you can just give me a month after the merger is done, then we can tell any and all people you want about us."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I am aware Jessica already knows about us. She told me the other day that you confided in her."

"I did." He nodded slowly. It caught him off guard. "Are you mad?"

"No." She shook her head. "I know you told her before I asked you not to say anything."

"Ok."

"So I feel like a month is a good amount of time for me to be able to make my mark on the firm and prove my worth. I feel like after that, it won't be as big of a deal for everyone else that we are together."

"Ok." He nodded. "A month it is."

He looked at her smile and felt even guiltier. It wasn't just Jessica that knew they were together. Mike knew they were together and Louis knew too. He hadn't come right out and said it to Donna, but he was fairly certain Donna knew too. She always had a sixth sense about things.

He contemplated telling her that there were more people who knew about it than what she thought, but he knew she would be upset by that so he stayed quiet.


	36. Chapter 36

One Flight Down

Chapter Thirty-Six

Victoria stirred slightly, feeling comforted by the fact that Harvey's arm was lazily draped across her midsection. He was sleeping on his stomach with his head turned so she could see his face. She took this opportunity to stare at him, as if trying to memorize ever line and every feature. While a few days ago she was nervous waking up next to him, now it seemed as normal to her as breathing.

A part of her was worried about falling too fast and too deeply. Their rekindled relationship was fairly new but they had already confessed their love for other. For the past few days either he had been sleeping at her place or vice versa.

She didn't want to think negatively. She wanted to think positively and believe with her whole heart that things were going to be fine for them—that they could be together forever this time. But to be honest, although they were together back in high school and it helped keep them from having to start over fresh, there were still things they didn't know about each other.

Both of them lived their own lives separate from each other for a long time. There were still things he didn't know about her life without him that could blow up in her face. If he knew everything, he might think of her differently. And she wasn't sure she knew everything about his past. There could be things from his past that would shock her. But she pushed that thought aside, instead thinking about how lucky she was right now.

She was going to be a name partner soon. She had a great guy back in her life. She had her health and she was financially comfortable. While she didn't have a lot of close friends or family, the ones she chose to include in her life were quality people. It didn't get much better than that.

She saw Harvey start to open his eyes.

"Hey." He greeted softly, his voice still thick with sleepiness.

"Hey." She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. That made him tighten his grip around her and pull her closer to him.

"I see you've finally learned to stay in bed with me in the mornings instead of rushing off." He grinned.

"Well part of it has to do with the fact that it is Saturday and we don't have to go into work." She informed him.

"So what you're saying is we could stay in bed all day?" He chuckled.

She grinned. "Yeah, we could. But we will need to eat at some point, because if we are staying in bed all day, it won't be to nap. There will be a lot of exercise."

"I love exercising in bed." He winked at her.

"I know." She winked back.

He grabbed a hold of her and pulled her on top of him. "I have a feeling today is going to be a good day."

She giggled before leaning in to kiss him.

* * *

Harvey sat on the edge of the bed later that day and stared at Victoria. She had fallen asleep after yet another round of sex. To be honest, he wasn't even sure what round they were on today because he lost count. While the sex was amazing, that wasn't what was making him happy today. Being around her was making him happy. He was sure that they could be doing anything, even something as boring as laundry, and still have fun.

He didn't realize just how much he had missed her all of these years until he got her back. He saw her stir and smiled.

"Hey sleeping beauty."

She looked over at him. "Sorry. Did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I guess all that exercise wore you out."

"How long was I out?"

"Long enough for me to go to the store." He explained, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on her lips. "I thought I could make us an early dinner. We haven't eaten anything since I brought in cereal for breakfast several hours ago."

"Hmm…yeah." She chuckled. "I am pretty hungry. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of Cheerios."

"But they are heart healthy." He contested.

"And they taste like sawdust." She teased.

"So what kind of cereal do you like?" He figured if he found out now he could make sure he had it for the future.

"Frosted Flakes." She grinned.

"Those are so sugary though."

"Duh! That's what makes them taste so good." She argued.

He laughed. "Fair enough."

"So what are you making for dinner?"

"I was planning on chicken breasts with a lemon sauce, mushroom risotto with truffle oil and steamed broccoli." He felt proud of the menu and thought maybe it had a shot of beating her in their game of cooking dinner. "What do you think?"

"I think it sounds delicious." She smiled. "Do you want some help?"

"No." He shook his head. "But I wouldn't mind you keeping me company while I cook."

"Ok. Give me a moment and I'll be right out to watch you."

He leaned in for another kiss before turning around and heading to the kitchen. He started by getting out all of the pots and pans he would need. He had looked at the recipe before and memorized it so that he wouldn't have to read from a recipe in front of her. This was a new dish that he had never made before so he hoped it turned out alright. But if not, they would likely just laugh about it and he'd order takeout.

After a few minutes he heard her soft footsteps and turned around to see she was wearing one of his old Harvard t-shirts.

"Ah, see that's not fair."

"What's not fair?" She asked innocently as she sat at the counter on a bar stool.

"You." He chuckled. "More specifically you in my clothes. You are incredibly distracting, especially since you aren't wearing any pants."

"I can't help that you are distracted." She shook her head.

"Admit it. You are trying to distract me so my dinner won't turn out well and you can still claim to be the winner."

She smirked. "I will admit to no such thing. I only put this on because I didn't feel like wearing the dress I wore last night and I didn't want to have to go down to my place to get new clothes. If this wardrobe choice affects your ability to cook, then that's just an added bonus."

"I want you to know that I'm feeling massively overdressed now." He chuckled. When he went out to the store to get the ingredients for dinner he threw on a pair of khakis and a sweater.

"No one is stopping you from stripping down." She winked. "In fact it's actually encouraged. I'd love to see you cook in nothing but boxers."

"I bet you would." He turned around and started to make the risotto since it would take the longest time to cook.

"So are you going to strip down?" She pestered him playfully.

"I'm thinking about it." He said. There was no doubt in his mind that he would take off some of his clothes to match the extremely casual dress code she was sporting. But he wanted to make her work for it first.

"Fine."

He looked behind him and saw she was pretending to pout.

"I'm going to put on some music. Any requests?" She asked, hopping off the bar stool.

"Not really." He watched as she walked over to his record wall. She seemed to be adding an extra, more pronounced swing to her hips as she walked. He guessed it was designed to distract him from cooking. The sad part was that even though he knew the tactic, he was falling for it. He couldn't help it.

He couldn't take his eyes off of her. It reminded him of what Mike said earlier this week. Mike was right. He couldn't take his eyes off of her for very long. Any time she was in the room with him, his eyes automatically darted to her and followed her every movement.

It should scare him that he was this attached to her. It should concern him that he fell this hard and fast for her again. But it didn't. The only scary thing about this situation was the fact that he felt like he was going to somehow screw it up again.

Marcus' relentless questions about whether he has screwed things up yet didn't help. While he knew his brother had good intentions, it only highlighted the fact that Harvey obviously wasn't good at being in relationships. His limited experience in them and Marcus' belief that he would screw it up proved that point. But he knew he couldn't let his fear rule this relationship. He had to push on.

She was going through his record collection relentlessly, pulling out record after record, looking at the covers and then putting it back where she got it. He appreciated that she wasn't messing up his system, though he knew he wouldn't be able to bring himself to be mad at her if she did.

She looked so carefree and happy. On a whim, he pulled out his phone. With a few clicks, he held it up and took a quick picture of her. She didn't seem to notice so he put his phone back to avoid being found out. Reluctantly he turned his back on her and started the risotto since that would take the longest to make.

A few moments later he heard the bluesy music of B.B. King filter through the penthouse. "Nice choice."

"Thanks."

He felt her arms wrap around his waist.

"You have a lot of records to choose from. It's going to take me a while to go through them all."

"Well then I guess it's a good thing that you can have all the time in the world." He informed her.

He felt her hands reaching for the bottom of his sweater and chuckled. "What are you doing?"

"Evening out the playing field a little." She whispered into his ear.

He raised his arms to let her pull his sweater over his head. Once he was shirtless, he turned around and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Have you started making dinner yet?" She questioned.

"Not really." He answered. "Why?"

"Just wondered if you could take a small, teeny-tiny break."

He looked down and saw that she was starting to remove his belt. He grinned and decided to play with her a little. "Is that all I am to you?"

She laughed, throwing her head back before winking at him. "Today? Yes."

He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "I guess I can take a small break."


	37. Chapter 37

One Flight Down

Chapter Thirty-Seven

"That was delicious." She told him as she put her silverware on the now empty plate.

"So I am now the winner." He gloated. "That's basically what you are saying, right?"

"You are the winner for now." She cautioned. "Just wait until I cook for you again. Then the crown will go back to where it rightfully belongs—me."

She got up from the table and picked up her plate. They she also picked up his plate.

"You don't have to take that in." He objected.

She leaned in and gave him a kiss. "I don't mind."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She called back as she headed to the kitchen.

He stood and picked up the leftover food to take it to the kitchen. Once there he saw that she was rinsing off dishes and starting to clean up. "You don't have to…"

"Harvey, I really don't mind." She looked over at him and smiled.

He leaned in and kissed her, only stopping when there was a knock on the door.

"Ignore it. You're busy right now." She giggled.

The knocking got more intense and he sighed. "I would ignore it but that's Louis' knock."

"You know his knock?" She chuckled.

"Unfortunately, yes." He groaned, picking his sweater up off the floor from when she took it off of him and putting it back on. Then he quickly put his pants back on. "I know him. And he won't leave until I answer the door."

"Then go on. Answer it so we can get rid of him." She gave him a quick kiss and lightly slapped his butt.

He winked at her before going to the door. "Louis, it is Saturday. What are you doing here?"

"I know. You told me never to drop by unannounced unless it was an emergency. But this is important. I swear." Louis said, pushing his way into the penthouse.

"Uh Louis…" He wasn't expecting the man to come in and wasn't sure where Victoria was. The last thing he wanted was for Louis to see her wearing just an old Harvard shirt. He knew that would only cause more problems. He followed Louis into the living room, grateful that he didn't see Victoria. She must have hid.

"What's so important that couldn't wait until Monday?" He asked.

"The name of the firm." Louis sighed. "We have to figure out what we want the firm to be called and convince Victoria to go along with us before Robert can…"

"Seriously? That's why you came over here?" He sighed. "Louis, that isn't an emergency and it isn't something to warrant coming over here over the weekend."

"Well I think it is important. Our name sets the tone. This is the first major decision we're going to make as a group. We need to make sure we win." Louis argued. "And besides, Jessica told me that when I feel like I could spiral into doing something counter-productive about this merger then I need to come straight to you and talk it out. That way I don't do something that will end up causing more problems. So here I am, wanting to talk about it."

He closed his eyes for a moment. Of course Jessica would tell Louis that. It made sense and he appreciated that Louis was listening to her advice instead of going rogue. But it was bad timing. "Ok, look. Louis, I appreciate that you are trying to not go over the deep end. But trust me, this topic can wait until Monday. Our next meeting with Robert and Victoria isn't until Tuesday night."

He watched as Louis looked around, hoping that wherever Victoria was, she would stay out of sight.

"Oh I get it. I'm interrupting something." Louis chuckled. "You have a lady here? Is that what this is?"

"Well, yeah." He nodded. "I do have a lady here."

"Ok. Say no more. I understand. You're busy." Louis put his hands up. "I will leave, but only if you will promise to think about the name of the firm because it's important."

"I will." He assured Louis, motioning for the man to leave.

"Great! Then we'll talk about this first thing on Monday." Louis said before leaving.

"Sounds great Louis. Can't wait." Once Harvey closed the door on Louis, he walked back into the living room. "You can come out now from wherever you are hiding."

He saw her pop up from behind the couch.

"That was a close one." She chuckled. "He almost found out about us."

"Yeah." He didn't have the heart to tell her that Louis already knew about them so he kept his mouth shut about that. So instead he watched as she went back over to the sink and started to wash the dishes.

"You know you really don't have to do that." He told her.

"I know." She answered. "Maybe I want to as a thank you for today. And before you say anything, it's not a thank you for all the sex—though that has been amazing."

He walked over to her and grinned. "Then what is it a thank you for?"

"Today has been nice spending time with you. It's just nice to be around you again. I wasn't aware of how much I really missed you until recently."

He grabbed a dish towel and stood next to her so he could dry the dishes after she washed them. "It's nice to be around you too. And I know what you mean."

She looked over at him and smiled.

"So apparently now Louis is worried about the name of the firm."

"Yes." She nodded, the smile falling from her face. "Apparently he is."

"Is there a reason he should be worried about it?" He was curious if Louis was just being paranoid or if there was a legitimate reason for the man to be worried about changes to the name.

"I don't know." She shrugged.

"Surely Robert has said something to you about what he wants the firms' name to be, right?"

She put down the dish that was in her hand and turned her head to look at him. "We're not having this conversation."

"Why not?" He questioned. "I think it is a legitimate question."

"You're right. It is a perfectly legitimate question." She conceded. "But we agreed that we would keep our professional and personal lives separate. So it is not a perfectly legitimate question to ask me when I am in your kitchen, dressed in your shirt, washing dishes with you."

"Ok. Then maybe you need to put the dish down, get out of my shirt and get back into your clothes so we can have this discussion because I'm curious now. Does Robert want his name to come first?"

He could tell that she was getting frustrated with him. A part of him wanted to drop it and just go back to being in their own little bubble. But now that Louis mentioned it, he was curious about what the firms' new name was going to be.

"I'm not having this conversation with you right now."

"But you have to admit it is important."

"Maybe I should just go back home." She moved to walk away from him.

He lightly grabbed her arm to stop her. "Hey. Look. I'm sorry. Please don't leave. I just…I know that Louis tends to overreact to certain things. But now I can't help but wonder what Robert thinks the name of the firm should be. It's a big decision and if he is thinking of suggesting putting his name first, I would like to know beforehand so I can be prepared."

"Prepared how?" She questioned.

"I'd prepare my arguments against it." He explained. "Robert shouldn't be the first name on the letterhead. He hasn't been with the firm as long as Louis or I have, and he isn't going to be managing partner either. I'm the obvious choice."

"Really?"

She looked surprised by that statement and he was confused. "I assume that Robert wants to be managing partner. Am I correct?"

"Harvey…I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"Please?"

"Fine." She pulled her arm from his grasp and closed her eyes for a moment before she spoke again. "Robert has said some things about both the structure of the letterhead and managing partner. He believes that the managing partner should have his name first on the letterhead and he believes he should be managing partner."

"That's bullshit." He scoffed. "Why would we want to make him managing partner when he hasn't been a part of this firm before now? He doesn't know the ins and outs of the place like I do."

"So you really want to be managing partner?" She questioned.

"You're damn right I do." He nodded. "And I'm going to be."

"We really shouldn't be talking about this." She shook her head.

"I know you want to keep things separate, but c'mon. The truth is that we're going to have to vote on this sooner or later. And it's going to come down to either Robert or me for managing partner. I know Louis will vote for me…so the tiebreaker vote will be yours."

He watched as Victoria shook her head and walked towards the bedroom. Instinctively he followed her. She took off her shirt as she was walking, only stopping when she found her dress. He then watched as she stepped into it and zipped it up.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going home." She informed him, not looking over at him. Once dressed, she started looking for her shoes. She found one but had trouble finding the other.

"You don't have to leave."

"I think I do because I don't like the way this conversation is going." She explained, kneeling down to grab the other shoe from underneath the chair.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I don't want to upset you and I don't want you to leave. I just…"

He hated to admit that Louis was right about needing a fifth name partner. The thought crossed his mind that a fifth person who was completely impartial would be a great thing. But there was no good way to bring in such a person. Anyone from the firm now would be inclined to vote with him and Louis. Anyone from Robert's firm would want to vote for Robert.

So it really was going to come down to Victoria. From the look on her face, she was beginning to come to that realization as well. Her face turned into one of pure panic as her eyes darted around. He could almost hear the wheels turning in her head from across the room.

"I could always abstain from voting." She said quietly. "But then that's just the same as voting for you because you would still win the majority vote. Shit."

"There's no other way around it. You're going to have to decide who you want to be managing partner, and you're going to be the deciding vote for most issues." He said it aloud, hoping it didn't sound so bad. But it actually sounded worse and he regretted voicing it.

"I have to go." She shook her head and tried to rush past him.

He softly grabbed her arm. "Please don't leave."

"Harvey…I…"

"I should have listened to you when you told me to drop it." He admitted. "I'm sorry. You were right. We don't have to deal with this right now."

"But we will have to deal with it eventually." She reminded him. "Or more accurately I will have to deal with it."

"We'll deal with it together." He assured her.

"How exactly do you plan on doing that?" She scoffed. "One of my worst nightmares is having to choose between you and Robert. Now you've pointed out that once this merger happens that will basically be my entire job."

"We can…"

"I just need some time alone." She explained, reaching up to kiss his cheek.

He watched as she walked out of the bedroom. This time he didn't try to stop her. He was afraid to because at this point he wasn't sure what to say. She was right. Once this merger happens she will be stuck in between him and Robert.


	38. Chapter 38

One Flight Down

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"Hello Donna." Victoria greeted on Monday as she walked up to the woman's desk. She and Harvey were having their meeting with the lawyers for the class action settlement today. They decided that having the meeting at Pearson Specter Litt was a better idea because it would give her a chance to get her face out there among people in the firm and get used to the place a little more.

"Hello Victoria." Donna greeted with a smile. "Harvey had to step out for a moment but should be back soon."

"Ok." She nodded. She was a little early anyway. The opportunity of seeing him during the day was too tempting to pass up.

She wasn't sure if she should wait in Harvey's office or try to make small talk with Donna out here. Luckily Donna must have seen her uncertainty and taken pity on her, standing up and motioning for her to follow. She promptly followed Donna into Harvey's office.

"So are you excited about the merger?" Donna asked.

She should have realized that Harvey would tell Donna about the merger since they were so close. A part of her wondered if Harvey had told Donna about their relationship, but she shook that thought from her mind. He wouldn't do that since she asked him not to. "Yeah. I am excited. Change can be good. Though it is a little daunting to get thrown into being a name partner. I wasn't expecting that yet. I thought I had a few more years before that was going to happen."

"Robert must think very highly of you." Donna smiled. "He's a good judge of character."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Donna spoke again.

"I wanted to ask something, but I wasn't sure Harvey would tell me if I asked him…" Donna trailed off for a moment.

She started to wonder if Donna was going to ask about her relationship with Harvey and hoped she was wrong.

"I know Rachel got Katrina a job at your current firm. Do you think she will be coming back here with you?" Donna asked.

She was relieved that the question wasn't about her and Harvey. She smiled. "Actually yes. She will be coming back. In fact, she was the first name on my list of people I wanted to bring with us."

"Good." Donna nodded with a smile. "I didn't like the way she had to leave. So I'm glad she will be back. If you get a chance today, you might want to tell Louis that you are bringing her back. It might help get him to warm up to you a little bit more. He has always been fond of Katrina."

She hadn't considered that but it was a good idea and it couldn't hurt to try. "Thanks for the tip. I'll try to let him know before I leave. So I guess you've heard about everything that happened with Louis?"

"Yes." Donna nodded with a laugh. "You have to realize that Louis is easily excitable but he is a good person at his core. He just loves this firm and sometimes his insecurities cause him to take things to extremes. I'm sure once he gets to know you more, things will calm down."

"Hopefully." She sighed, crossing her fingers as Harvey's phone rang.

"Excuse me while I go get that." Donna said, leaving the room.

Once Donna was gone, she started to walk around Harvey's office. She stopped when she saw the painting on the wall. Somehow when she was here the last time, she somehow missed seeing it. She smiled as she walked closer to it.

While looking at the painting, she thought back to yesterday.

 _She sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning up against the couch with her laptop on the coffee table. She was ready for the meeting with Harvey tomorrow where they were hopefully going to force Williams Synthesis into settling the class action lawsuit. But she had other cases she needed to work on too so she was using today as a day to play catch up._

 _Last night she tossed and turned in bed, unable to get much sleep as she thought about her conversation with Harvey. There was no way to avoid her being caught in the middle between Harvey and Robert. The vote for managing partner was just the tip of the iceberg. One of them would get hurt by her vote. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place._

 _She wanted to vote for Robert. He had the most experience as a lawyer and he was basically managing partner at the firm now. Sure, Rand was technically the managing partner. But Rand never did any of the work. It was always Robert coming in and picking up the slack for his colleague._

 _But then there was Harvey. She loved Harvey and she wanted him to be happy. She wanted him to get everything he wanted from life. But could that include her vote? He didn't have any experience being a managing partner._

 _A knock on the door broke her from her thoughts. She considered not answering it but then decided to get up. She knew who it was anyway and knew that avoiding him wasn't the right thing to do. After opening the door, her suspicions were confirmed._

" _Good afternoon." Harvey greeted._

 _She gave him a small smile._

" _Can I come in?"_

 _He looked nervous, like he thought she would say no. Although she left last night and said she needed to be alone, she couldn't refuse to let him in today. So she nodded and stepped to the side so he could come inside._

 _He kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry about what happened last night. I shouldn't have pressed for us to talk about it."_

" _It's ok. It is something that we can't just sweep under the rug and forget about." She shrugged. "I'm sorry I left like that."_

" _I figured you needed some time to think." He explained. "So I didn't take it personally or anything."_

" _I did need some time to think." She admitted. "And I've come to the conclusion that we need to realize that this merger is going to change things between us. We both need to be mature about this and be able to separate our professional feelings from our personal ones."_

" _What exactly does that mean?" He chuckled._

" _It means that if I vote against something you want, it doesn't mean I'm voting against you. And vice versa. If you vote against something I want, it doesn't mean you are voting against me. We'd just be voting against the issue at hand. We need to be mature and realize that work has to be separate from our relationship. We can't let it tear us apart. Can you do that?"_

" _I can." He nodded._

" _Good." She smiled. "Because you might not like the second part of this."_

" _Why?"_

" _Once the merger happens, the four of us—you, me, Louis and Robert—we need to work together and be a cohesive team. It can't be you and Louis against me and Robert. We need to band together."_

" _I can try to do that." He told her. "Hell, I've already been telling Louis he has to do it."_

" _I know it's not going to be easy." She cautioned. "But if this is going to work…"_

" _Say no more." He grabbed a hold of her hand. "I'm in."_

 _She smiled again. "You don't know how happy that makes me to hear you say that."_

" _So what are you doing?" He asked, raising an eyebrow._

" _I'm working. I have some things to catch up on."_

" _Are you going to be working all day?" He asked. "I was hoping we could go out to dinner tonight—nothing too fancy. I just want to spend time with you."_

" _I'd love that." She leaned in and gave him a kiss._

"Hey. I thought I would get back before you arrived."

She turned around to see Harvey standing there with two coffees in his hands. "Oh. I decided to come in a little early."

"It's ok. You can admit that it's because you missed me." He deadpanned.

She grinned. "Something like that."

He walked over to her and handed her a cup. "I got this for you."

"Thank you." She took the cup. It meant a lot to her that he went out to get her a coffee. She turned back to face the painting. "Isn't this the same painting that used to hang in your mom's studio?"

"Yes." He nodded. "It is."

She turned back to face him. "And now it hangs here?"

"Yes." He sighed and went over to sit at his desk.

She noticed the way his demeanor changed as soon as she brought up the painting and his mom. "Did I just step on a landmine?"

"Nope." He shook his head and opened up his laptop before starting to type.

"Obviously I did." She went over and sat in the chair across from his desk. "Wanna talk about why it upsets you so much?"

"Not right now." He shook his head.

"Ok." She knew better than to push him too hard. Pushing him too hard would only lead to him shutting down completely. "So are you ready to go crush these lawyers and get an amazingly high settlement so we can close this case?"

"I'm ready for the settlement part but I'm not ready to stop having a case to work with you." He told her, looking up at her and grinning. "I love seeing your brilliant legal mind in action."

"You're such a sweet talker." She chuckled.

"Only to you." He promised.

* * *

Harvey waited until the lawyers for the other side were gone from the room and far enough down the hallway that they wouldn't be able to hear or see him. Then he turned to Victoria and grinned. "That was amazing."

"I know!" She smiled. "Not only do the plaintiffs get about $850,000 each, but both firms are going to get almost four million in legal fees."

"It should hopefully take some of the sting out of the fact that you and Robert are taking a bunch of associates and clients with you when you leave." He chuckled.

"And if it doesn't, too bad." She laughed.

"Exactly." He agreed. "We make a really good team."

"Yes we do." She winked at him.

"How about we go out and celebrate tonight?"

"I'd love to, but I already told Robert this morning that I would go to dinner at his place tonight. He and Laura want to celebrate me becoming a name partner."

"Oh." He wasn't expecting that, but he could respect it. "Ok. We can go out and celebrate another time."

"I could always come over once dinner is done." She smirked.

"In that case, I'll wait up for you."

* * *

Victoria knocked on Louis' door. She was hesitant to bother him, but was going to take Donna's advice and let him know about Katrina. "Do you have a moment?"

Louis looked over at her and nodded. "What is it Victoria?"

"I just thought we could talk for a minute if you have the time."

"What's on your mind?" He sighed.

"I just…I know we haven't talked about what associates Robert and I are bringing with us yet. I know that's what we are supposed to talk about tomorrow night. But I have one associate confirmed and I thought you might be interested in knowing about it now instead of later."

"Why would I care?"

"Because of who it is." She explained. "I'm bringing Katrina Bennett back with us."

She noticed that Louis went from looking bored to looking interested with the mention of Katrina's name.

"Really? You're bringing Katrina back? She actually agreed to come back?"

"Yes. It's a done deal." She nodded. "I know all about how she used to work here and what happened. I wasn't sure she would want to come back. But I'm glad that she does because she is a wonderful attorney and a good friend."

"You're friends with her too?"

She saw the surprised look on Louis' face. "Yes. We are friends."

"Well I am glad Katrina is going to be back where she belongs." Louis finally said. "I hated that she had to be let go in the first place."

"I know she is excited too because she loved working here and especially working with you. She's had nothing but nice things to say about you." Victoria told him. "Well, that's all I had. I'll let you get back to work." She was almost out the door when Louis called out to her.

"How did the settlement meeting go? That was today, right?"

She turned to face him. "We got them to agree to a fifty million dollar settlement."

"Impressive." Louis nodded.

"Thanks." She nodded. "Anyway, bye Louis."

She didn't wait for Louis to say anything. She could sense that it was going to take a while to get Louis to really warm up to her. But at least they were able to have a civil conversation without her feeling like he was going to undercut her in some way. Slow progress was better than nothing.


	39. Chapter 39

One Flight Down

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Before Harvey left for the night he swung by Jessica's office. He was a little surprised that Jessica was still there but he was happy about it. He didn't bother knocking, instead choosing to just walk in and head straight to her mini-bar cart.

"Yes Harvey, please…help yourself." Jessica laughed, standing up and walking over to him.

"I don't mind if I do." He turned and smiled. They he went back to pouring them both a drink. "I thought we could share a toast."

"Are we toasting your settlement award? $50 million dollars is quite a lot." She asked, taking the glass from him.

"Of course we're toasting that." He chuckled. "But we should probably also toast the fact that you are now one step closer to being free to go to Chicago with Jeff. By my estimation, settling this case today means you're gone by the end of the week. Is that still the plan?"

"Yes. But you do realize that Jeff isn't the only reason I'm leaving, right?"

"I know." He nodded. "But he is the catalyst for the change."

"That's certainly true. Are you finally alright with me leaving?" She questioned. "You seem to be doing better with this news now."

"I'm still not happy about it, and I wish I could change your mind." He explained. "This place isn't going to be the same without you. But I've made my peace with it. You obviously love him and I can understand why you are willing to disrupt your life to be with him."

"Is it because of your relationship with Victoria?" She guessed, heading over to the couch and sitting down.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"How is that going?"

"Pretty good." He smirked, going to sit next to her.

"I'm glad for you Harvey." She smiled. "To be honest, I was unsure if you would ever let someone in."

"I didn't think I would either." He admitted. "But Victoria is special."

"Then let's toast." She held up her glass. "To your massive settlement."

"And to finding the right people." He added before they clinked glasses.

They sat in silence for a moment before he spoke again. "Can I ask you something?"

"No. You can't have my office once I'm gone." She smirked.

"That's not it." He laughed. "I was just going to ask if you think Victoria and I should be worried about the merger changing things between us."

"Are you afraid you won't be able to work together? Because I thought you did well on this case."

"We did." He nodded. "But I meant more about the administrative stuff of both being partners. She is loyal to Robert and…"

"Ah." Jessica interrupted. "You're worried about what's going to happen when she sides with Robert over you."

"When?" He scoffed. "You just assume she will side with him?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "And I think you have to assume she will side with him a lot of the time. They have been close for a long time. They think alike. And while I'm sure it will be hard for her to vote against you, I don't think she is the kind of person who will let her personal feelings cloud her judgement."

"So you don't think I stand a chance at getting voted managing partner?" He asked. "You think she will just automatically side with Robert?"

"I think she will look at things rationally and make her decision that way instead of basing it off her personal life. But yes, I think in the end she will choose to side with Robert most of the time. And I think you have to prepare yourself for that fact."

"What if I can't?" He asked. Although he told Victoria last night that he would be able to be mature and not let the business in the firm jeopardize their relationship, he had doubts he would actually be able to follow through on that. "What if it bothers me too much that she sides with him?"

"Then you should get used to being alone again." Jessica told him. "You're going to have to find a way to separate your relationship and your feelings of pride. Otherwise, your relationship is going to end."

Everything Jessica said was something he would have to think about.

"By the way, thanks for telling Louis that he should just come talk to me whenever he feels it is an emergency." He scoffed. "He came by this weekend at a very non-opportune moment."

Jessica laughed. "Sorry about that."

"I get why you told him to do that though and I'm glad that he listened to you instead of flying off the deep end and doing something we all would regret." He admitted. "Now we just need to teach him the meaning of the word emergency."

"Good luck with that." Jessica laughed. "I've been trying for years with no luck."

"Great." He sighed.

* * *

"I'm so glad you could join us." Laura said as they were in the kitchen together.

"Me too." She nodded. When she rang the doorbell it was Laura who answered. The woman immediately hustled her into the kitchen.

"Robert will be out soon. He is on a phone call with a client." She explained. "You know how that is."

"Yeah." She nodded again. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No." Laura shook her head. "I've got everything under control for the moment. But thank you. Can I get you a glass of wine?"

"That would be great." She smiled, watching as Laura poured both of them a large glass of wine.

"So, how does it feel to know that very soon you are going to be a name partner at a top New York City law firm?"

She chuckled. "Surreal. I still can't fully believe that it's happening."

"Did he tell you how it happened?"

"Not really."

Laura paused. "When he came home and said Jessica Pearson offered him a merger opportunity but he wasn't sure he would take it, I slapped some sense into him."

"He didn't want to take the merger?" That was surprising.

"No, he didn't at first. He worried about a lot of things. He worried about Rachel's reaction. He worried about Rand and Kaldor's reactions. And he worried about you."

"Why would he worry about me?"

"Robert obviously trusts you and relies on you're a lot. As far as we are concerned, you're a part of the family and you've come through for him countless times. But he was worried you wouldn't follow him with the merger." Laura explained.

She wasn't sure what to say to that. There were times where she doubted joining Harvey's firm was a good idea. But ultimately it didn't matter. She had pledged her loyalty to Robert a long time ago.

"He was on the fence about whether it was a good idea to leave and merge with Harvey and Louis. So I told him he needed to go back to Jessica and demand that part of the merger deal be that you get made into a name partner because there was no way you would turn down an offer like that. If Jessica was serious about the offer and wanted him badly enough, she would agree. If not, then he could stay where he was and be no worse off than before. He went to Jessica and the rest is history."

It was interesting to find out just how her becoming a name partner came into fruition.

"Don't get me wrong. Robert believes in you." Laura explained. "He wouldn't have pushed for you to be a name partner if he didn't. He also realizes that having you as an ally is extremely valuable. I just thought you should know that."

"I appreciate it." She took a sip of her wine.

After dinner, Robert brought her into his study for a drink before she left.

"Congratulations again on the settlement." He smiled, handing her a drink.

"Thanks." She smiled. "I can't take all the credit though. Harvey was a big part of the success too."

"I'm sure he was." Robert nodded, moving to sit in the chair behind his desk.

She sat in the chair on the other side of his desk and took a sip of her drink. "There is something I think you should know, just so you aren't completely blindsided."

"Oh? Well do go on then."

"Harvey is serious about wanting to be managing partner." She informed him. It felt weird telling Robert, like she was somehow tattling on Harvey. But she pushed that thought to the back of her mind. Robert had a right to know. "He is going to be opposing you when we vote for it and I'm certain that Louis will be backing him up."

"Well that is unexpected." Robert sighed. "Why does he want to be managing partner? Doesn't he realize that he is more valuable to the firm out there closing clients and settling cases?"

"I would assume he has his reasons." She replied, not wanting to give too much away. "I just thought you should know."

"Well with Louis voting for Harvey and you voting for me, it will be a Goddamn tie." He shook his head. "We need to figure out a way to get Louis to vote for me or we'll be at a tie forever."

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Shit." He said quietly. "This is a problem, but not one that can't be fixed. We need to find out why Harvey wants managing partner. Maybe there is something we can give him to drop it."

She didn't think there was anything that would get Harvey to drop it, but it was worth a shot. "Ok. I guess I'll see if I can find anything out."

"Thank you Victoria." Robert smiled. "I knew I could count on you."

"Of course." She smiled weakly. All she could think was that this is how it all starts.

* * *

Harvey was sipping some scotch and staring into the fireplace when there was a knock on the door. He smiled and put his glass down before going to the door.

"Hey." Victoria greeted with a small smile.

"Hey." He greeted back. "How was dinner?"

"Good I guess." She nodded. "Can I come in?"

He realized he hadn't moved and chuckled. "Yeah. Sorry."

She came into his place and walked into the living room, stopping at the window and glancing out.

"Are you ok?" She didn't seem like herself and he was worried.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just exhausted and I think I might have had a little too much wine. It's starting to hit me now."

"Well then let's get you into bed." He held out his hand for her to take, noticing that she looked hesitant. "I realize how that sounded, but I assure you. If you don't want sex, that's fine. We can just sleep next to each other."

She chuckled. "Oh I want sex. Trust me on that. But if possible, can I give you a rain check that you can use in the morning?"

"Deal." He nodded.


	40. Chapter 40

One Flight Down

Chapter Forty

Victoria followed Robert into the conference room. This meeting was supposed to be about which associates they were bringing to the firm and the new name of the firm. But she had a suspicion that they would also end up talking about who would be managing partner. She sat at the table across from Louis.

Harvey came into the room a few moments after they did.

"Where's Jessica?" Robert asked.

"She's not coming." Harvey answered. "Her exact words were 'you need to figure out a way to work together without a referee. What better time than now to start?'"

Robert chuckled. "Fair enough. Should we go over the list of associates we are bringing with us?"

"Sure." Harvey nodded.

Robert looked over at her and she handed a file to both Harvey and Louis. "Ok. This is the list of every associate we plan on bringing with us. We thought we could go over each name and discuss if there are any objections."

"Sounds good to me." Louis spoke up.

"Ok. It's alphabetical so the first name is Lauren Alverez…"

* * *

Harvey closed the file folder and sighed. Going over every name on the list was a tedious chore, but one that needed to be done. He was just glad it was over. "So are we all in agreement with the changes?"

"Yes." Robert said.

He looked over at Victoria and Louis, seeing them nod. "Good."

At least now they were on the same page about how many associates they were bringing and which ones made the final cut. The next topic was going to be the one that was going to cause some issues. He was certain of it. "The next item on the agenda is the new firm name."

"Victoria and I had a few thoughts on that, if you don't mind." Robert spoke up.

He wanted to roll his eyes but controlled himself. Thanks to Victoria he knew that Robert was going to want his name to be first on the letterhead. But he would act surprised.

"What are your thoughts?" Louis asked.

"We thought that we could alternate last names. We could make it Specter Zane Litt Sullivan." Robert suggested.

He didn't need to act surprised. That idea truly did surprise him. He wasn't sure what to think about it and looked over at Louis. This wasn't one of the scenarios that they discussed this morning. Louis seemed caught off guard as well. He looked over at Victoria, who looked nervous.

He remembered Victoria saying that Robert wanted to have his name first because he believed the managing partner should be first on the letterhead. But now Robert was suggesting that his name be second. Something was off about this.

Last night Victoria seemed preoccupied after dinner with Robert. She played it off like it was the wine, but what if she told Robert about the competition for managing partner and this was his way of trying to buy him off to get him to drop his bid for managing partner?

"So, what do you think?" Robert asked after a few minutes.

"I actually kind of like it." Louis spoke up. "By alternating between us, it creates a good compromise.

"That's what we were thinking too." Victoria said.

"Harvey?" Robert asked. "What are your thoughts?"

"I'm not sure."

Louis looked over. "Harvey, this is a nice gesture. I think we should agree."

"Louis, can I see you out in the hallway for a moment?" He asked Louis, already standing up.

"I guess we'll be right back." Louis chuckled, following Harvey to the hallway. "What is your problem with the name?"

"I think Robert is caving on having his name first so that I won't go after managing partner." He explained.

"What are you talking about?" Louis asked. "You aren't making any sense."

"Victoria told me he wanted the managing partner to have his name first on the letterhead. And now all of a sudden he is suggesting his name be second? I doubt it is because he decided against wanting to be managing partner. Something's not right about it."

"I think you are being a little too paranoid." Louis cautioned.

"Well I think Victoria might have said something to him about me wanting to be managing partner. This feels like a set up to try and placate me into not going for managing partner."

"Harvey, this is a good compromise." Louis sighed. "I think we should take it."

"Haven't you listened to a thing I said?" He asked, starting to get annoyed.

"I have listened. And now it's your turn to listen to me." Louis sighed. "You and Jessica have been beating it into my brain that we need to compromise and be open-minded about this merger. You've told me that we need to stop thinking of it as a them versus us situation. That's what I'm trying to do and that's what Robert and Victoria are doing right now with the compromise. I think we need to meet them halfway and agree to this."

"It puts your name third. How are you happy with that?" He scoffed.

"My name has always been third and I don't mind it." Louis answered. "As long as my name goes before Victoria's, I'm happy."

He couldn't help but laugh at that. "Ok. Fine. We'll accept the name. But it isn't going to change my mind about going after managing partner."

"I don't expect it to." Louis nodded, going back into the room.

He followed Louis begrudgingly and sat back down. "Alright. We agree to the name change."

"Wonderful." Robert smiled. "Is there anything else we need to discuss tonight?"

"I don't think so." Louis spoke up.

"Actually, I think we need to put all of the cards on the table and be real with each other." He said.

"About what?" Robert asked.

"Managing partner." He answered. "You want it, but so do I."

"And yet only one of us can actually be managing partner." Robert pointed out.

"So true." He nodded.

"Harvey, I don't want this to become an issue between us." Robert sighed.

"Who says it has to?" He chuckled.

"I think what Robert is trying to say is that no matter who becomes managing partner, we all will have to work together." Victoria spoke up. "So we need to be mindful about that."

"I agree with Victoria." Louis said.

"Then we are all in agreement that we will handle the managing partner vote with civility?" Robert questioned.

He nodded.

"Good." Robert smiled.

"Are we still on for the announcement about the merger on Monday?" Victoria asked.

"Yes." Louis answered. "The announcement will be at 9am. We will release the press release after that."

"Perfect." She nodded. "Is there anything else we need to discuss?"

"No." He answered. "This meeting is done."

He watched as Louis grabbed his stuff and left the room. Robert and Victoria weren't making any moves to leave yet so he got up and headed out of the room behind Louis.

* * *

Victoria watched Harvey leave the room and sighed. She could tell from the look on his face that he wasn't happy. She couldn't blame him. There was no way he didn't realize that she had told Robert about his desire to be managing partner. He was too smart to let that get past him. She needed to talk to him.

"Do you want a ride home?" Robert asked.

"No thanks." She shook her head. Then she pulled out her phone to pretend to type a message to look busy. "I have some things I need to do before I head home for the night."

"Alright. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She watched Robert get up and waited a few moments. She put her phone away and grabbed all of her stuff. She walked through the hallways, hoping she was right about Harvey going back to his office. Fortunately, she was. She stopped in the doorway, watching as he had his back turned to her. He was staring out the window at the night skyline.

"Either come in or leave. Don't just stand there." He told her in a gruff voice.

She went into his office and closed the door before putting her things down on the couch. "Harvey…"

"You told Robert I want to be managing partner, didn't you?"

It was an accusation in a soft tone, but an accusation none the less. She went to go stand next to him. "Yes, I did."

He scoffed. "You know, since you are so big on this whole separation of church and state with us…maybe we should start every conversation with a disclaimer about whether it is a personal or professional one. That way, I'll know if I'm talking to my girlfriend or Robert's spy."

"C'mon. Don't do that." She shook her head. "Don't be that way."

"Be what way?" He turned to look at her.

She saw the disappointment and anger in his eyes.

"By the way, is this a conversation with Victoria the spy or Victoria my girlfriend?" He asked.

She sighed. "Harvey, I'm always your girlfriend."

"I'm not sure I can believe that right now." He sighed. "You can't tell me that making my name first on the letterhead wasn't something Robert came up with to try and placate me when he tries to steal managing partner from me."

"No one is trying to steal…"

"Oh bullshit!" He yelled.

She jumped slightly, not expecting him to start yelling.

"Harvey…"

"Whatever." He sighed. "I just want to be alone right now."

She didn't want to leave—not until they got this settled. "I'm sorry that I told Robert you want to be managing partner. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. But I'm stuck right smack dab in the middle between you two and I don't have an instruction manual for it. I have loyalty to him but I also have loyalty to you." She reached for his hand. "I just…"

"I get it." He cut her off, moving away from her so she couldn't touch him.

She watched as he went to go sit behind his desk.

"Your loyalty to Robert is winning out over loyalty to me. What am I supposed to do about that? Just accept it and be alright with it? Because I can't."

"Ok. Obviously we need to have better communication about what stays between us." She acknowledged.

"Just tell me this. Is there going to come a time where it doesn't feel like Robert is a third wheel in our relationship?" He asked.

"That's not fair." She argued.

"Maybe not." He conceded. "But right now that's how I feel."

"It's been a long day. Can we just go home please? We can talk about it, we can fight about it, you can yell at me or we can ignore it. I don't care which as long as you aren't shutting down on me."

That was her biggest fear—that he would shut down and then shut her out. In hindsight, maybe she shouldn't have told Robert. Maybe she should have let Robert be blindsided about Harvey's play for managing partner. But that deed was done and there was no changing it now.

"I have work to do." He told her, opening up his laptop.

She suspected that he was simply trying to get her to go away. As much as she wanted to push him, she knew it wasn't a good idea right now. "Fine." She grabbed her things from the couch.


	41. Chapter 41

One Flight Down

Chapter Forty-One

Harvey finished putting on his tie while looking in the mirror, straightening it so that it was just right. He had to stifle a yawn and wished he had made some coffee when he first woke up. He needed it. Last night he didn't sleep well. He kept replaying his conversation with Victoria over and over in his head. There was a good chance he over-reacted. Calling her a spy wasn't the nicest thing in the world for him to do. But honestly, it caught him off-guard that she would go to Robert and tell him something he told her. He truly thought that what he told her would stay between them. Apparently he was wrong.

He didn't realize until now how deep her loyalty to Robert was and how he didn't stand a chance. Jessica was right when she told him that Victoria was extremely loyal to Robert. The effects of that loyalty were starting to show. He hoped he would be able to change her mind about voting for him in the managing partner vote. Her loyalty to Robert was going to be hard to fight though.

He grabbed his suit jacket and headed to the living room when there was a knock on his door. It was still early but he had an idea of who it was. By the time he opened the door though, there wasn't anyone on the other side. He was about to close the door when he looked down. There was a cup of coffee and an envelope with his name on it.

He picked both up and looked around at the empty hallway before going back inside. He took a drink of the coffee, realizing that it was from his favorite coffee cart. She remembered which one was his favorite and it made him smile. She must have gotten up pretty early to go all the way to the coffee cart by his office to get coffee for him.

He stared at her handwriting on the envelope for a moment, taking a deep breath before opening it to find the letter nestled inside.

 _Harvey,_

 _I'm sorry about last night. I know you are probably still angry with me. I'm hoping you will be willing to talk about it today. If so, please meet me for lunch at the diner we went to for lunch at noon._

 _Love,_

 _Victoria_

He felt a little bit like a jerk. He was dismissive to her last night and now here she was apologizing and trying to make things right. He would definitely be at the diner today because he had to make this right.

He should be apologizing too. He wasn't completely blameless in their argument.

* * *

"So I think last night went well." Robert said as he came into her office and shut the door. "Don't you?"

"Yeah." She nodded, looking up at him.

"Why don't you seem convinced?" Robert asked with a chuckle.

"I'm just tired." She shrugged.

"Ok." He nodded.

She was glad that he seemed to buy it for now.

"I'm going to need you to find a way to get Louis to vote me managing partner instead of Harvey."

"How am I supposed to do that?" She asked, scoffing softly. "Louis doesn't really like me. In fact, he barely tolerates me now. I think you would have a better shot of persuading him than I would. You have a history with him and know how to handle him better than I do."

"You do seem to have a point." He agreed after thinking for a moment. "I guess it wouldn't hurt if I tried to talk to him first."

She was relieved that she wouldn't have to talk to Louis about it yet. But she had a feeling if Robert wasn't able to convince Louis, she would have to try.

"Are you sure you are alright?"

"I'm fine." She plastered a smile on her face.

"Ok, now I know you aren't alright." He told her. "That's your fake smile."

She had to think quickly to cover her tracks because she didn't want to tell Robert that she was dating Harvey. There was a way to tell him about her concerns while leaving out the part about her relationship with Harvey though. "I'm worried about the battle for managing partner. I don't want it to get ugly and I don't want it to tear us apart. If this merger is going to work, we need to be acting like a team."

"I agree." He nodded. "I don't want to split us up before we even get started working as a cohesive team. But I'm not backing down from being managing partner. I think I'd make a better one than Harvey. Don't you agree?"

She hesitated for a moment. "I agree that you have more experience and I think experience is what the firm will need."

"I hate to ask this, but do you think you could talk to Harvey and maybe get him to bow out gracefully to avoid a battle? Or at least try to see if there is anything else we can give him? Putting his name first on the wall certainly didn't seem to help." He chuckled. "And you do have a history with him. You probably know how to handle him better than I do."

She narrowed her eyes at him, slightly annoyed he was using her words against her. The last thing she wanted to do was insert herself any deeper into this situation. She felt like she was already deep enough. If she went any further in, she would drown. But she couldn't explain that without having to answer a bunch of follow up questions so she decided to lie in order to placate him. "I can definitely see if he will drop it. I just can't guarantee he will."

"All I ask is that you try." He smiled. "Thank you."

"No problem." She felt bad for lying to him, but she wasn't sure she could have that conversation with Harvey. He seemed dead set on becoming managing partner. She couldn't go up to him and try to bribe him out of it. Changing the order of the names on the letterhead already pissed him off enough as it was. There was no telling what would happen if she outright tried to bribe him into dropping his bid for managing partner.

She was beginning to think maybe she should have agreed to talk to Louis. Maybe then he wouldn't have asked her to talk to Harvey. But once again, the damage had been done and there was no way around it.

* * *

Victoria sat in a booth at the diner, checking the time on her phone. It was quarter to noon. Harvey hadn't texted or called to tell her one way or another if he would be coming but she hoped he would show up. She checked her phone again and saw that only one minute had passed.

"Is this seat taken?"

She looked up to see Harvey and smiled. "It is now."

She watched as he sat down, glad that he actually came to lunch. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course." He nodded. "Thank you for the coffee. You remembered my favorite coffee cart."

"Of course." She nodded, echoing his statement. She wasn't sure where to start and he looked nervous too. It was kind of comforting that he was nervous too. "So…I…"

"I'm sorry." He apologized, interrupting her.

"You don't have to apologize." She told him.

"Yeah I do." He insisted. "Among other things, I shouldn't have made you leave like that last night. I was just angry."

"You needed to be alone." She nodded. "I may not have liked it, but I can certainly respect it."

"Well I also shouldn't have berated you like that or called you a spy."

"It's ok. I should be the one apologizing. You were right. I've been so focused on keeping everything separate in our lives but then I went ahead and told Robert something that I shouldn't have. It wasn't fair of me. I should have just let him find out when you told him."

"But I should realize that you are close to Robert. He is your Jessica. If the situation was reversed, I probably would have ended up telling her. I should try to be more mindful of that."

"Are we ok?" She asked hesitantly.

"Of course we are." He smiled, grabbing a hold of her hand across the table.

As much as she wanted to sweep it all under the rug and move on, she did have one last thing she wanted to talk about. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Do you really feel like Robert is a third wheel in our relationship?" When he said that last night it caught her off guard and she just wanted to know if it was something he truly felt or just something he said out of hurt and anger.

"At times I guess I do." He admitted. "But I'm trying to work through it."

"Look, I love Robert as a friend and a mentor. He's been amazing to me and I owe him a lot. I mean, I wouldn't even be a name partner if it wasn't for him. But Harvey, I love you in every way possible. The problem is I don't know how to navigate between the two of you. This is all new to me. I'm probably going to make mistakes like this again, but it won't be on purpose and it won't be because I'm trying to hurt you. I need you to understand that. I honestly feel like I'm being split down the middle."

He was quiet for a few moments and she wondered what he was thinking. She was about ready to just ask him when he started to talk.

"This whole situation is new to both of us."

"Yes it is." She agreed. "What are we going to do about it? Because I don't see this getting any easier anytime soon. We still have to deal with the vote for managing partner."

"I know."

She wasn't looking forward to that. "Maybe we just have to be honest with each other about everything."

"Alright." He nodded.

"So in the interest of full disclosure, Robert asked me to see if there was any way you would drop your fight for managing partner." She saw the look on his face and smiled. "I told him I would ask. So I just have one question for you."

"Vic…"

She smirked. She could see that he was preparing his argument for why he should be managing partner. "Do you want to split an order of onion rings with me?"

The look on his face went from one of hesitation and annoyance to one of amusement.

"That's the question you want to ask me?" He chuckled.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Alright." He nodded. "In that case, yes. I would love to split onion rings with you."

"Wonderful." She smiled.

* * *

He watched as she picked up an onion ring and bit into it. He was glad that they were able to work through this bump in the road. But there was still one thing bothering him. They had agreed to be honest with each other about everything. She had demonstrated some good faith by letting him know that Robert wanted her to find some way to convince him not to run for managing partner. But he was still holding something back from her. She had no idea that Louis knew about their relationship.

She wasn't going to be happy if she found that out, which was why he didn't plan on telling her. He was fairly certain he could make sure she didn't find out. He just had to make sure she didn't find out for the next month or so. Then they would be able to tell anyone they wanted and it wouldn't matter anymore.

"What?" She giggled. "Why are you staring at me?"

"Because you're gorgeous." He told her with a grin.

She shook her head playfully and rolled her eyes. "Ok. Well in that case, do you want to maybe stare at my face tonight during dinner tonight?"

"I'd love to." He answered.


	42. Chapter 42

One Flight Down

Chapter Forty-Two

"Robert must really want to be managing partner." Louis told him as they waited for Robert and Victoria to show up on Friday night.

"Why do you say it like that?" He asked.

"He has been calling me all week and even took me to dinner the other night. The whole time he just kept trying to convince me why he should be managing partner instead of you." Louis explained.

"And why did you go to dinner with him in the first place?" He scoffed.

"I can't turn down a free meal." Louis defended himself. "You know that about me."

"Because you're cheap." He joked.

"Because I'm a realist." Louis corrected him. "Why pay for a meal when someone else will pay for me? It doesn't make sense to turn down free food."

"Ok. Whatever." He shrugged. "The important thing is that you aren't going to vote for him, right?"

"Oh God no." Louis chuckled. "I'm voting for you."

"Good." He nodded.

"I think it is fair to assume that Victoria will be voting for Robert though." Louis pointed out.

"Yeah." He agreed. "I know."

"Which means we need to think about what strategy we are going to take to get her on our side. Do you think you can use your relationship with her to convince her?"

"No." He replied without missing a beat. "We are trying to keep the personal separate from the professional."

Louis started to laugh. "Good luck with that. You do realize you two are going to be working together, right? There's no way the professional doesn't interfere with the personal."

He knew Louis was right, but didn't want to think about it. "Look, I'm not interested in breaking the Chinese wall we have going on right now about work. Not talking about it has been working for us lately."

"Then let me talk to her about it." Louis offered.

"What are you thinking of saying?" He couldn't help but be curious about the methods Louis was planning on employing.

"Well, I kind of forgot to tell my private investigator to stop digging into her. So I have some things that I can use…"

"You mean blackmail?" He interrupted Louis.

"Not exactly blackmail." Louis shrugged. "Just letting her know that I know things from her past that she may not want other people to know."

"That's the exact definition of blackmail." He sighed. "Louis, I thought that we agreed you wouldn't do this kind of thing."

"No." Louis shook his head. "We agreed that I wouldn't do this kind of thing without talking it through with you first—which is what I'm doing right now."

"I can't let you blackmail her."

"Aren't you just the least bit curious about what I found out though?" Louis chuckled.

"No." He lied. There was a part of him that wanted to know everything that Louis found out. He suppressed that though because it wasn't right. He couldn't do that to her. If there were things from her past that she wasn't telling him, he would wait until she felt comfortable to tell him herself.

"Fine. But if you don't let me use it, I can't guarantee her vote and we'll just be in a tie for managing partner until the end of time."

He sighed. "You really think she had something in her past that she doesn't want people to know?"

"No." Louis shook his head. "I think she has something in her past that she doesn't want you to know. And I think she would be willing to do anything to keep you from finding out, including voting for you to be managing partner."

"This isn't right." He told Louis. Although now he was even more curious about what Louis had found out, he wasn't sure he could unleash Louis upon her. What kind of message would it send to her if he let Louis blackmail her?

"Do you want to be managing partner?" Louis asked.

"Of course I do." He answered. "But I don't want to get it that way."

"What other option do we have?"

"I don't know." He shook his head. "But I don't think blackmail is the right thing to do. The end goal is to work as a team. Would you be able to work with someone as a team if they blackmailed you into voting the way they wanted?"

"I don't know." Louis shrugged it off.

"Well I do know." He said confidently. "You wouldn't be able to. You would harbor a grudge and it would start a feud. You and Victoria are on neutral ground right now. You do this and the two of you aren't going to be able to work together. Don't blackmail her."

"But…"

"No." He put his foot down. "I said no and I mean it."

"Fine." Louis sighed.

"We have to find another way to convince her to vote for me." Harvey told him.

* * *

Victoria ran into Robert down in the lobby.

"Good. You're here." He said, following her to the elevator. "I've been waiting for you to show up."

"Of course I am here." She checked her watch. The meeting wasn't for another ten minutes so she wasn't late. Robert seemed uptight tonight. "Were you really waiting for me?" She asked with a slight chuckle.

"Yes." He nodded. "I wanted to talk to you before we got up there for the vote. I have been trying all week but I can't get Louis to budge. He is still going to vote for Harvey."

"I can't say that I am surprised by that." She told him honestly. His attitude made sense now. He must be worried about the vote. "Are you surprised?"

Robert sighed. "No I guess not. But that means the vote tonight is going to be a tie."

She was aware of that and it made her nervous. They needed to settle on a managing partner, ideally before they announced the merger to everyone on Monday morning. That didn't seem likely now.

"Have you made any progress finding a way to change Harvey's mind?"

She shook her head. After confessing to Harvey about Robert's plan to have her talk him out of managing partner, they hadn't discussed it again. The rest of this week had been nothing but good times for them as they attempted to push the professional part of their relationship onto the back burner.

She knew it wasn't healthy for them to ignore the fact that they had issues stemming from the merger. Acting like nothing was wrong and nothing would be wrong wasn't right. It was the textbook definition of avoidance. But there was no way she wanted to open that can of worms before she absolutely had to.

"I haven't been able to get him to change his mind." It was a true statement because she wasn't able to get him to change his mind. To be fair, she didn't exactly try. But Robert didn't have to know that right now.

"Well shit." Robert chuckled. "I don't know how we are going to pull this one off then."

"We'll figure out a way." She assured him. "We always do."

"You're right. We always do." Robert said as they arrived at the 50th floor. He motioned for her to go first.

She got out of the elevator and they walked towards the conference room. Harvey and Louis were already there. They turned silent when they saw her and Robert. She couldn't help but think they were discussing the same thing she and Robert were discussing on the elevator ride.

"Good evening gentlemen." Robert greeted as he sat down.

She sat next to Robert. "Hello Harvey, Louis."

"Hello." Louis greeted.

"So, other than managing partner, which we will discuss in a moment, is there anything else we need to talk about today?" Harvey asked.

She looked over at Robert and shook her head.

"No. I think everything is pretty much settled." Robert agreed.

"After we break away, we can show you where your offices are going to be." Louis told them.

"Wonderful." She chimed in.

"And we have offices for those associates we are bringing with us?" Robert asked.

"We have offices for the associates who are junior or senior partners. The regular associates will have desks in the bullpen." Harvey explained.

"Good." Robert sighed. "But I guess we should get to the real issue, shouldn't we?"

"Yes." Harvey agreed. "Managing partner. Both Robert and I want to be considered for it. So I guess we should take a vote."

She wasn't looking forward to this but knew there was no way around it.

"Louis, how do you vote?" Harvey asked.

"I vote for Harvey." Louis smiled.

"I vote for myself as well." Harvey stated. "Robert? Your vote?"

"I vote for myself." Robert announced.

"Victoria?" Harvey called out. "Who are you voting for?"

She looked at Harvey and took a deep breath. "I vote for Robert."

She could see the disappointment in his eyes for a moment before he buried it.

"Alright." Harvey sighed. "Looks like a tie."

"So what is next?" She asked.

"Let's take two days and think about it." Harvey suggested. "We can come back here Sunday night and vote again. Hopefully we can come to an agreement then so that we can announce the managing partner on Monday morning when we announce the merger. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me." Robert said.

"Me too." Louis agreed.

She simply nodded.

"Good." Harvey nodded. "We'll meet back Sunday night at this time. Now let's show you both where your offices are."

"I'll show Victoria where her office is if you want to show Robert." Louis volunteered.

She saw the weird look Harvey gave Louis but didn't know what it meant. So she thought maybe she was imagining things.

"Alright." Harvey said after a beat. "Robert, why don't you follow me?"

"Sure." Robert agreed.


	43. Chapter 43

One Flight Down

Chapter Forty-Three

She watched Robert leave the room with Harvey before looking over at Louis.

"So Robert's office is closer to mine. That's where they are going. Your office is right next to Harvey's." Louis told her as he stood up.

She was kind of happy that her office was next to Harvey's but didn't want to let it show. She got up and followed Louis through the hallway. Once they reached her new office, Louis stood off to the side so she could go in first.

It was a large office. While it wasn't a corner office, it was large enough for a desk, some bookcases and a couch. That's all she really wanted anyway. She didn't really need a corner office. This would be fine.

"I like it." She said, going over to the window and looking out. She had a very similar view of the city compared to Harvey since their offices were next to each other. It would certainly make it easier to go talk to him at random times during the day.

"Good." Louis said. "You know, I still feel bad that I had my private investigator look into your past."

"It's ok." She assured him, turning to face him. "We've moved past that, right?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "Though in the interest of being honest with each other, I forgot to have him stop digging."

"Ok." She didn't like where this conversation was going.

"So I know what happened after you moved to Arizona."

She took a deep breath and tried not to panic. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I know about everything." Louis repeated. "I apologize because I wasn't planning on digging any deeper into your past. But my investigator kept digging and now I know all about the situation you found yourself in after you moved…"

"Is there a reason you're telling me this?" She interrupted him. She didn't know Louis well, but guessed that he was telling her this because he wanted to use it to get her to vote for Harvey. He was banking on her not wanting this information to get out. It was true. She didn't want this information to get out-especially to Harvey. But to use personal information like that to influence her vote was underhanded.

"I just wanted to be honest with you." He told her.

She wanted to believe him, but she knew better. She wasn't born yesterday. This conversation was just a thinly veiled threat. She realized if she didn't vote for Harvey then Louis would tell what he knew.

"You mean you want to blackmail me to vote for Harvey so you don't tell anyone what happened."

Louis sighed. "Look, I didn't want to do this. And Harvey said not to, probably because you two are together again and he doesn't want to upset you. But I know how much this means to Harvey and I wanted to make sure that I could say I've tried everything I can think of to…"

She stopped listening after Louis said that she was with Harvey. She didn't call attention to it but it kept ringing in her mind. How did Louis know about their relationship? Did he guess or did Harvey tell him?

"Do you mind if I have a moment alone in my new office?" She asked. "I want to think about everything you said."

"Of course not. I have some things I need to take care of anyway." He nodded before leaving the room.

She went back out to looking at the skyline. Now that Louis knew what happened after she moved to Arizona, her options were limited. She could betray Robert and vote for Harvey, assuming that Louis would keep his mouth shut. She could continue to vote for Robert and just hope that Louis kept his mouth shut. Or she could just tell Harvey herself.

None of the options made her happy. But she knew she had to choose one of them.

She also had to deal with the fact that Louis knew about their relationship. She wanted to believe that Harvey wouldn't have gone against her wishes and told Louis, but she found it difficult not to anymore.

* * *

Harvey came into Victoria's new office. He just got done showing Robert his new office, which was closer to Louis'. He still didn't understand why Louis insisted on showing Victoria her office but he hoped it was part of Louis trying to get to know her better.

He saw her staring out the window and closed the door. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Maybe it was just the stress over the vote. "What do you think?"

"It's great." She said, not turning around.

He went over and stood next to her. "I thought it would be nice if we could be neighbors here at work too. So I put you here instead of Robert."

"It is nice." She nodded.

"Ok, what's wrong?" Now he was certain that something was wrong. She was acting too weird.

"It's the vote for managing partner."

He figured that was weighing on her mind. "Look, I know we have been avoiding this topic all week. But maybe it's time to talk about it."

"Maybe." She conceded, looking over at him. "Why is this so important to you?"

He sighed. "It feels like it is my time. I should be the one taking over for Jessica and filling her shoes. At the same time, I also want to be managing partner because I know what this firm is. I know what it can be. And I want to be the one leading us to achieving that vision. We don't need someone from the outside coming in and changing everything without knowing what they are talking about. We need someone who has their finger on the pulse of the firm."

"But Robert doesn't want to change everything." She argued. "And he wouldn't do that. He also believes the firm is destined to go great things, but he doesn't want to isolate anyone. He wants us all to work as a team to bring this firm to the next level. Plus he has the experience of doing the work that goes into being managing partner. Why wouldn't you want someone in charge who knows how to do it?"

"I just told you." He sighed again. "You know, you could end the tie very easily by changing your vote…"

"And you could end the tie very easily by dropping your name from contention." She countered back with an attitude.

"I'm not doing that though."

"And I'm not doing that either."

"So where does that leave us?" He asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

"I don't know." She shrugged.

"Let's just go home. We can grab some takeout on the way and try to enjoy our evening. We can deal with all of this later." He suggested.

"Don't you get it?" She scoffed. "There is no later anymore. We have to start dealing with this now."

"Vic…"

"Look, I just want to be alone tonight. Ok? I need some time to think."

He took a deep breath. While he wanted to spend time with her, he knew he had to respect her feelings about wanting to be alone. After all, she had respected his when he needed some time. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm sure."

"Alright. You know I love you though, right?"

"I know." She nodded again, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. "Goodnight Harvey. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Ok." He said, watching as she left the office.

* * *

Victoria slid her shoes off immediately after entering her penthouse. With a heavy sigh she headed towards her mini bar to fix herself a drink. She felt bad for leaving Harvey behind at the office like that. She could tell that he really wanted to spend the night with her. But she couldn't do it. There were too many thoughts swirling around in her head.

She had considered bringing everything up with him once he came to her new office. She had it all set in her mind what she was going to say and the words she could use to maximize her damage to him. But she realized that now wasn't the time to talk to him. If she started talking to him now it would have ended up in a screaming match where nothing would get settled. If she wanted them to get past this, it needed to happen once she calmed down and organized her thoughts.

Because right now her mind was twisting and turning like a tornado. She took her drink and went to sit on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her body as she sat and looked out the window.

Louis' not so subtle threat of blackmail was the first thing that came to her mind. If he really knew what happened after she moved to Arizona…well that wasn't something she wanted to talk about with Harvey yet. At some point she would. She had to. But she couldn't do it yet. Their relationship was newly rekindled and she wasn't sure how he would react to it yet.

Besides, the last time Louis' investigator gave him information on her it was only half the story. So she wasn't even confident that the investigator knew the whole truth about the situation.

She wasn't sure what she was going to do about it. She couldn't just vote for Harvey because she was afraid of him finding out her secret. It wouldn't be fair to Robert because Robert deserved to be managing partner. There was no doubt in her mind that he would do a better job than Harvey.

She loved Harvey, and she knew that he would be able to do anything he put his mind to…but managing partner was a big responsibility. She wasn't even sure he wanted it for the right reasons. Sure he said he wanted to follow in Jessica's footsteps because he knew the firm inside and out. And that was probably true.

But being managing partner didn't mean making decisions unilaterally. The managing partner still would have to get the approval of the other name partners for big decisions. It seemed like that was something Harvey was forgetting. Voting Robert in as managing partner wasn't the same as voting him in as a dictator. Everyone was going to have a say in the changes proposed.

She was angry with Louis for trying to force her hand into voting for Harvey. She thought they were starting to get on good terms with each other. But this made her think otherwise. She appreciated his loyalty to Harvey and his desire to help Harvey get what he wanted out of life. It was a sign of a loyal and dedicated friend. She was glad Harvey had a friend like that.

But blackmail wasn't something she appreciated.

She also didn't appreciate the fact that Harvey had told Louis about their relationship. It made her wonder who else knew. Did Donna? Mike? If Mike knew, did Rachel? All she asked from him was that he keep their relationship quiet for a short time. But apparently he couldn't even do that.

It was difficult not to be furious with him about it.

She looked down and saw that her glass was empty. Although it was tempting to make another, she put the glass down on the coffee table and headed towards her bedroom. She was exhausted. Maybe some sleep would help.


	44. Chapter 44

One Flight Down

Chapter Forty-Four

" _What happened to you?"_

 _Victoria looked at her mom and started to cry. "I was riding my bike and Melissa came over. She hit me in the face with a rock. It made me fall off my bike."_

" _Sweetie, come here."_

 _She went over towards her mom and let herself get enveloped in a comforting hug._

" _Let's get you cleaned up." Her mom suggested, leading her towards the bathroom. "Has this kind of thing happened before?"_

" _Yeah." She nodded slowly. "She usually doesn't hit me though. Usually she just yells things at me."_

" _How long has this been going on?"_

" _A few months."_

 _She watched as her mother got out a clean washcloth and turned on the warm water. "Why didn't you tell me sooner that you were being bullied?"_

" _I don't know." She shrugged. "I was embarrassed."_

" _You don't need to be embarrassed. You did nothing wrong."_

 _She watched as her mom cleaned the scrapes on her arms and legs._

" _Let me tell you something about bullies that will help you for the rest of your life. You can't let the bully have the power. If someone tries to bully you or manipulate you into doing something you don't want to do…well the worst thing you can do is give in because that just tells the bully they can keep doing it to you. So don't ever give a bully any power over you or they will never quit. Take back the power by standing up against them. Disarm them, not by violence or doing the same thing they are doing. Take the high road. Forgive them and show them just how strong you are."_

" _What if I don't feel strong?" She asked._

" _It's ok to not feel strong all of the time. Just remember that you have a great and powerful strength inside of you and you always will. If you ever doubt yourself, take three deep breaths and calm your mind."_

Victoria's eye jolted open, the dream still fresh in her mind. She had almost forgotten about that day and the words her mother said to her. Those words had served her well over the years and she knew they would serve her well again this time.

She couldn't let Louis dictate her vote. As much as she didn't want Louis to be the one to tell Harvey what happened, she couldn't let her fear keep her from doing what she felt was right. And what she felt was right involved making Robert the next managing partner.

She turned her head to look at Harvey. He was still sleeping peacefully. The small grin on his face led her to believe he was having a good dream. She knew that he wasn't going to be happy with what she had to do. But sometimes doing what you think is right isn't going to make people happy.

She only hoped he would forgive her for what she had to do.

He started to stir and opened his eyes, smiling when he saw she was awake too.

"Good morning." He greeted happily.

"Hey." She smiled back.

He pulled her closer, planting a chaste kiss on her forehead. "I always seem to sleep better with you in the same bed. Why is that?"

"I have no clue." She chuckled.

"I think it is because you are magical."

She scoffed playfully. "I don't know about that."

"I do." He asserted.

"I should go make some coffee." She placed a kiss on his lips before trying to get out of bed.

"No." He whined like a toddler, grabbing on to her. "Stay for just a little bit longer?"

"I'll be right back with coffee." She promised, getting up and leaving the room. Once she got to the kitchen, she picked up her phone from the counter. Pushing a few buttons, she placed a call. "Hey, do you have time to grab lunch with me today?...I know it's short notice but it's important…It will be my treat…Great…Is Noon alright?...Ok, I'll text you the address."

She put the phone down after ending the call and texting the address for lunch. Then she got started making coffee.

She felt bad about making such a quick escape from the bedroom this morning. But she wasn't sure how to act around him right now. It was the main reason why she didn't call him yesterday like she said she would. She wasn't sure what to say and was glad when he showed up anyway.

She worried about the consequences from voting for Robert tonight. If Louis told Harvey what he knew from the investigator, then there wasn't anything she could do about that. It wasn't something she wanted to have happen though.

Truthfully she was still angry with him about telling Louis they were dating. She tried to understand why he would do something like that…why he would go against her wishes. But she couldn't understand it. At some point they would need to talk about it. She would have to let him know she was aware of it.

She would also have to let him know about Louis blackmailing her. She just wasn't ready yet. So as wrong as it was, she was simply pretending that nothing was wrong.

* * *

He watched Victoria leave the bedroom. Once her back was turned, the smile on his face slowly drained. There was still something bothering her, something she wasn't telling him. It was clearly written on her face. He was trying to be supportive and patient, but he hated seeing her upset. He thought back to last night.

 _He stood at her door with a pizza and a hope that she would talk to him. When she left her office she told him she would call. But it was now almost twenty-four hours later and he still hadn't gotten a call from her. So he decided to take matters into his own hands. He knocked and waited for her to open the door._

" _Harvey, what are you doing here?" She asked._

 _He noted that she looked genuinely surprised to see him. "Well times are tough out here. I had to take a second job delivering pizzas just to make it through."_

 _She started to laugh. "I don't ever remember having a pizza delivery guy look as good as you before."_

" _What can I say? My good looks have been earning me a lot of tips." He smirked._

" _I bet." She grinned. "Well I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but I think you have the wrong address because I didn't actually order a pizza."_

" _Really?" He played along. "Huh. Well, since I'm here anyway and I have a pizza…maybe you could let me in and we could have dinner together."_

" _Do you have dinner with all the ladies you deliver pizza to?" She asked._

" _No, you're the only one I would even consider doing that with." He explained._

" _Alright." She nodded, moving out of the doorway so he could come in. "You're lucky you're cute and I love pizza."_

" _I'll take what I can get." He laughed, coming in and placing the pizza box on the counter. He saw her go to the refrigerator and pull out two beers. She then got a roll of paper towel._

" _Follow me." She said, leading him into the living room. She sat the beers down on the coffee table before leaning up against the couch and motioning for him to put the pizza box between them on the coffee table._

 _He did what she wanted before sitting next to her. She was already pulling a piece out of the box so he opened his beer and took a quick swig, thankful that she started stocking some of his favorite beer in her refrigerator alongside the crappy beer she liked to drink. "So at the risk of sounding like some stereotypical pathetic, desperate girl…you never called."_

" _No, I didn't." She admitted. "I'm sorry about that. I just didn't know exactly what to say."_

" _Are we ok?" He asked, wanting to get to the point. It was bothering him all day because he wasn't sure._

" _I don't know. Are we?"_

" _You were very upset last night." He pointed out. "Are you sure it's just the vote for managing partner? It seemed like more than that."_

" _I'm sure." She nodded, picking up her beer and taking a sip before putting it back on the coffee table._

 _The next thing he knew, she was moving the coffee table back a little bit and moving to sit on his lap. "What are you doing?" He chuckled as she put her arms around his neck._

" _What do you think I'm doing?" She smirked, starting to kiss his neck. "You know, I've never been with a pizza delivery guy before."_

" _Well, I think we might be able to remedy that."_

" _That's what I'm hoping." She said, starting to kiss his neck._

He realized that she was using sex last night as a way to get out of talking. And last night he was alright with it. But now it was morning and they needed to talk about things.

It didn't take her long to come back with two coffee cups. She came over and handed him one before going over to the other side of the bed and getting back under the covers. He took a drink from the cup and then put it on the bedside table. Then he laid back down, turning to face her.

"See? I'm back." She smiled.

"I'm glad." He pulled her close again, happy when laid next to him and put her head on his chest. "So what do you want to do today? Because I vote we stay in bed."

"I actually can't do that today." She explained. "I have some things I need to take care of."

"On a Sunday?" He questioned.

"Yeah." She answered.

"Alright." He wasn't happy about that and wondered what things she had to do on a Sunday. But he wouldn't pry any more about it. "Vic, are you sure things are ok with us?"

"Of course." She said a little too quickly. Then she reached up to give him a kiss. "I love you Harvey."

"And I love you." He assured her.

"See?" She chuckled. "As long as we love each other, things are fine."

He wasn't convinced that everything was fine but he decided to let it drop for the moment.


	45. Chapter 45

One Flight Down

Chapter Forty-Five

"Thanks for meeting me for lunch today." She said after Louis joined her at her favorite diner and they had ordered. "I know it was short notice."

"I have to admit I was curious about why when you asked." Louis shrugged. "But you said it was important and I never say no to a free lunch."

"Still…thank you." She nodded. "I do have one question to ask before I get to the reason I called you. How exactly did you know that Harvey and I were together?"

"He told me." Louis explained. "Though I think he only told me so I would leave you alone and cut you some slack."

She could see Harvey telling Louis as a way of trying to protect her. But it didn't excuse his actions. She would deal with that later, moving on to the real reason for this lunch.

"Ok. So I know you are aware of what happened in Arizona, and you want to use that as a way to get me to vote for Harvey. I'll admit that it's something I don't want Harvey to know yet. I do plan on telling him, but it's not the right time for that. Still, I'm not going to vote for him. So if you really feel like you have to follow through on your blackmail threat, then go ahead. I'm prepared to deal with the consequences. But I strongly believe Robert is the best candidate for managing partner and I'm not going to let you dictate who I vote for simply because you found out something I haven't told Harvey."

She watched as there was a look of shock forming on Louis' face. Then there was a look of understanding, followed by a look she didn't recognize.

"I understand. If it's any consolation, I feel terrible about everything. I was up all last night thinking about it and I came to the realization that I wouldn't tell Harvey no matter how you decided to vote." Louis said.

"Really?" She was surprised—happy but surprised.

"Yes." Louis nodded. "For what it's worth I am sorry I tried to blackmail you. It wasn't right of me and I got too carried away. I've just been racking my brain trying to think of a way to make it so that Harvey can be managing partner. When my investigator told me what he found, I thought it was my shot to ensure his victory. I thought I could be the hero for once. But I should have realized Harvey was right. Blackmailing another name partner isn't the best way to start out. We have to be a team and team members aren't supposed to blackmail each other."

"No they shouldn't." She agreed.

"I'm better than that, and I need to act like it. And I shouldn't be trying to capitalize on what happened to you. It's not fair at all. What happened back then is something personal and I shouldn't try to capitalize on your pain. So I hope you can forgive me."

She could tell that Louis was serious and genuine with his apology. It caught her off guard. Maybe he actually did realize that blackmail was going too far. She decided to put him out of his misery. "I forgive you. But if you ever try to blackmail me again I won't be so forgiving. I will make it my life's mission to destroy you."

"That's understandable." He nodded. "If I ever tried to blackmail you again, I would deserve that."

"I do truly think you were doing it out of loyalty and friendship to Harvey, which is why I can forgive you. I don't think there was malicious intent towards me. Right?"

"That's right." He nodded. "I simply wanted to find a way to make sure my friend got the position he wanted. He's always the one that pulls out a victory from nowhere. I guess I got carried away trying to be like him."

She wasn't sure how he was going to react to her next statement, but it had to be done. "Louis, I know you keep voting for Harvey. I know you think he should be managing partner. But I need you to vote for Robert as managing partner instead of Harvey tonight."

"I can't do that and you know why." He shook his head. "If you can't understand that, then I'm going to just get my food to go."

"But I do understand completely." She argued. "You have a loyalty to Harvey, not unlike my loyalty to Robert. This goes beyond loyalty though."

"Harvey's one of my best friends, even if he doesn't think so all the time." Louis explained. "If I vote for Robert over Harvey, he will see it as a betrayal. Besides that, if you keep voting for Robert, he will see it as a betrayal too. You should know that he doesn't take betrayal lightly."

"Ok yeah, I won't lie to you. He will most likely see it as a betrayal and I know how he feels about that." She conceded. "But I know you see what I see. This battle for managing partner is going to tear up the firm. It's going to make us extremely vulnerable at a time when we need to be showing strength. Everyone is going to think we are a sitting target because Jessica is gone. If we can't even agree on a managing partner then we are sitting ducks for poachers. Even the associates will start to notice that no one is in charge. Every day we go without someone in charge is another day that things fall through the cracks. We need a leader."

"Yeah." Louis agreed. "We need Harvey."

"You're wrong." She said softly. "We need Robert. Robert has the experience to lead better than Harvey does. He understands what is it like to make the hard decisions and he knows how to manage people's egos in a way that doesn't make them feel like they are being managed. Even Jessica thought that Robert would be a better choice than Harvey. You can't tell me that you are willing to discount Jessica's opinion that easily."

"Of course Jessica's opinion matters." Louis sighed. "But…"

"And can you look me in the eyes and tell me that you honestly think Harvey has the people skills and leadership skills right now to handle being managing partner?" She asked, taking a different approach with the man. "You think Harvey has the patience to deal with petty squabbles and things like budgets and quarterly reports? You think he would honestly be happy not being able to take on as many cases because he's so busy trying to keep the firm together?"

"I'm not sure what would make him happy." Louis admitted.

"But you know that he loves the chase." She pointed out. "He loves coming up with the strategy that will win the case and closing the deal. That's what he does and what he's good at doing. That's his drug of choice. If he's managing partner, he won't be the one doing that anymore. He will have withdrawals and that won't be good for him or the firm."

"But…"

"Look." She sighed. "I know you want to do right by your friend and I can respect that. I also know you are aware that Harvey and I are seeing each other so you should know that I care about Harvey too. It isn't a casual relationship. I love him and the absolute last thing I want to do is hurt him. I want him to be happy. But this vote isn't personal and we can't let it become personal. Part of being a name partner is doing what is best for the whole firm, not just one person."

"You're lecturing me on being a name partner?" He scoffed. "You've only been name partner for a minute. I've been one for years. I know more about being a name partner than you do."

"Still…" She ignored that comment because it wouldn't do her any good to fight with him on it. "Ask yourself this. Is it better to let this battle for managing partner drag on for weeks or end it before everything comes crashing down? Because that is what will end up happening and pretty soon there will be nothing left of the firm to manage."

Louis sighed. "It isn't that easy."

"I know. I don't want to hurt Harvey either." She nodded. "But I also know you love this firm like it is your child. Well Louis, your child is drowning right now. You have a life preserver in your hands. You can rescue your child and keep it from drowning."

"By letting Harvey drown instead." Louis scoffed.

"Let me worry about Harvey, ok? We need to be focused on doing what is right for the firm…not what Harvey thinks is right for him. I know he thinks he wants to be managing partner, but it won't make him happy. It will actually make him miserable and the firm will suffer. If you love the firm at all, you will vote for Robert."

"You know this puts me in a terrible position, right?" Louis asked. "I have told Harvey that I'll vote for him no matter what. And now you are asking me to turn my back on him."

"I understand." She told him. "I understand completely because I've been torn between Robert and Harvey in ways you can't even begin to imagine. But we have to think about what is best for the firm. Do I think that Harvey could pull off being managing partner? Sure. I think he could do a great job. But I also think that deep down he doesn't really want it. I think in some ways he thinks he should want it. But I doubt it would make him happy long term. "

"Fine." He finally sighed. "At the meeting tonight, I'll vote for Robert."

"Thank you Louis." She smiled. "You won't regret this."

"I already do." He told her. "And I'm getting my food to go. Thank you for lunch."

She watched as he went up to the counter and started talking to their waitress. Once he was out of the diner with his food, she picked up her phone and dialed.

"Hey."

"Do you have good news?" Robert asked.

"Yeah. Louis is going to vote for you tonight instead of Harvey. So you will be the new managing partner of Specter Zane Litt Sullivan."

"That is good news!" He laughed. "I knew you wouldn't let me down."

"Of course not." She assured him. "When have I ever?"

"You never have." He praised. "Thank you Victoria."

"You're welcome." She didn't bother to say goodbye before hanging up. While she wasn't happy with Harvey for telling Louis about their relationship, she felt bad about twisting Louis' arm into voting for Robert.

There was a part of her that always thought there would be a time when she had to choose between Harvey and Robert. She just didn't expect that time to come so soon. She worried about Harvey's reaction. But the damage was done. All she could do now was wait for the fallout.


	46. Chapter 46

One Flight Down

Chapter Forty-Six

"Ok we are here again tonight to try and figure out who the new managing partner of Specter Zane Litt Sullivan is going to be." Harvey said, taking charge of the meeting. "Who wants to vote first?"

"I'll vote first." Robert volunteered. "I vote for myself."

"And I vote for myself." Harvey said, looking at Victoria and then Louis. "So it comes down to you two again. Victoria? Who do you vote for?"

He watched as she looked first at Robert, then at Louis and finally at him. There was an expression on her face that he didn't quite recognize. It worried him. "I vote for Robert." She said quietly.

He sighed. That wasn't unexpected, though not what he hoped would happen. He looked over at Louis. "Your turn."

"I vote for Robert too."

He looked at Louis and could feel his temper starting to flare up. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I'm sorry Harvey." Louis apologized.

"You're sorry?" He scoffed. "Louis…"

"That's three votes for me and one for you." Robert summed it up. "Sorry Harvey, but majority rules."

"What the hell did you just do, Louis?" He yelled, ignoring Robert for the time being.

"I did what I had to for the firm." Louis sighed.

"Bullshit!" He yelled. "Tell me right now. What did Robert promise you in exchange for your vote?"

"Nothing." Louis argued. "It wasn't even Robert who asked this time."

He stopped and then glared at Victoria, who was staring at the desk. "You did this? You were the one who got Louis to vote for Robert?"

"I did what I had to for the firm." She said, looking over at his face. "I'm sorry Harvey."

"You're sorry? Oh well that just makes everything better then because you're sorry. Congratulations Robert on turning everyone against me. You must be thrilled." He scoffed, leaving the room. He headed towards the elevator, aware of the fact that Victoria was chasing after him. "Leave me alone right now."

"I can't." She told him, grabbing his arm when he stopped at the elevator bank.

"I don't think you are going to want to be around me right now." He warned.

"Listen to me Harvey. No one is trying to turn people against you."

"Well it sure as shit feels that way." He pulled his arm out of her grasp. "Why did you do it? Huh? Because of some blind loyalty to Robert?"

"No." She argued. "I mean, yes a small part of it is loyalty to Robert. But the main part is because I don't think you really want it. I listened to you explain it but I think you only wanted it because you wanted to prove to Jessica and everyone else that you could do it. That's not a good enough reason."

"Now you're some kind of shrink? You think you know me well enough to make assumptions like that?" He scoffed. "Well thanks for the free evaluation but you couldn't be farther from the truth."

"Ok. Then tell me. Why did you really want to be managing partner?" She paused. "No bullshit this time—just the truth. Why? Why was it so important to you?"

He sighed, unable to put it into words.

"Exactly. That pause right there tells me everything I need to know." She exclaimed. "Let's face it. You wouldn't have been happy as managing partner and deep down you know it. You may not want to admit it, but you know it."

"Am I supposed to thank you for what you just did in there? Do you think you've saved me somehow from being unhappy? Is that how you have justified what you did in your mind? Because all I know is that you betrayed me and then somehow you got Louis to betray me too. Congratulations on that by the way because I thought he was my friend. I never thought he would change his vote like that. Someday you'll have to explain what kind of Jedi mind trick you did on him to get him to switch his vote."

"Look, I know you are pissed off…"

"You're damn right I'm pissed off!" He yelled. "You know I don't like people going behind my back and betraying me. Yet you did it anyway!"

"I don't think it was a betrayal!"

"Well I do." He informed her.

"Well if that constitutes as a betrayal then I'm justified in being pissed off with you because you betrayed me too." She challenged him.

"How?" He challenged her.

"I don't appreciate it when the guy I'm dating goes behind my back and starts telling people that we are dating when I asked him not to."

Shit. He was really hoping she wouldn't find out about that.

"I also don't appreciate Louis using our relationship as a way to try and blackmail me into voting for you."

"What blackmail?" He hoped to God Louis didn't go through with it.

"You know what I am talking about. He said you knew about it."

"And I told him not to do it." He sighed. "Goddammit. He actually tried to blackmail you anyway?"

"Yes." She nodded. "He did."

"I'm sorry about that." He apologized, calming down for a moment. "I told him not to do it. I thought he realized that it wasn't necessary."

"Apparently he didn't listen to you, which is probably another good reason you aren't managing partner."

"Vic…" Any progress he made calming down was disregarded from that statement.

"You know Harvey, you're not the only one who is pissed off right now. Aside from Louis trying to blackmail me, let's not forget about the fact that you have completely disregarded my wishes. You knew I didn't want Louis to know about us yet. He was the one person I didn't want knowing because I didn't want that knowledge to cloud his judgment of me. But you told him anyway. Who else have you told? Donna? Mike? Rachel? Robert?"

He realized he needed to come clean. "I've told Mike but I told him not to tell Rachel. I'm not suicidal so I wouldn't tell Robert. And as for Donna, I didn't have to tell her. She's like a cross between a psychic and an empath…she just knew without me saying anything."

"So almost everyone in your life knows about us?" She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. "You just couldn't keep it a secret like I asked?"

"Well forgive me for being happy about our relationship!" He scoffed. "Honestly, I thought keeping it a secret was dumb. Ok? I'll go ahead and say it." He knew that saying it like that was wrong and would only make her even angrier, but at this moment he couldn't care less.

"So it's dumb to go along with something your girlfriend when she believes in something strongly? You'd rather lie about being on the same page and then go behind her back to tell anyone you want, betraying her confidence?" She scoffed. "You know, you are making it really hard not to be pissed off at you right now."

"So is that what happened? You got pissed at me so you decided to hurt me back by convincing Louis to vote against me?" He assumed.

"No, that's not the way it happened." She sighed.

"Well at least now I know why you've been so distracted the past two days." It all made sense now. He wondered if she had been planning it for a while or if she decided on the spur of the moment to betray him like this.

"Can we just go back to your place or my place and talk this through? Yelling at each other isn't going to solve anything."

"No. I don't think we can." He shook his head and pushed the button for the elevator. "You don't like the guy you're dating doing that kind of thing and I don't like the woman I'm dating betraying me? Then there is one easy way to fix that. We aren't dating anymore. Ok? So now we don't have to worry about that."

"You can't mean that." She scoffed. "Harvey…"

"I do mean it." He assured her. "You should know better than anyone that I can't tolerate betrayal."

"But this wasn't a real betrayal…"

"I guess that's just a difference of opinion between us." He shrugged. "Because I do think of this as a betrayal."

"Harvey, you're mad. I get it. I'm mad too. But don't do this. We can get past this. I don't want to break up." She pleaded.

"Too bad. You did this. Not me." He said before getting into the elevator. "We're done."

* * *

Victoria walked back to her office in a daze, unsure if she should go after Harvey or let him cool off. She decided to give him a little time to cool off. It would also give her a chance to cool off too because she said some things she wished she could take back. She was hoping that she would be calmer when she confronted him about telling people they were dating. But he pushed her buttons to the point where she couldn't stay calm anymore.

She knew he would be upset. She knew he would go straight to the betrayal word. But she didn't expect him to break up with her. It stung and she was reminded all too well of what happened back in high school when he broke up with her. She sat at her desk and sighed, turning her chair so that she could look out the window behind her.

"Fuck…this is a mess."

She tried to believe that everything would be alright. But this situation made her unable to convince herself that everything would be alright because right now everything sucked.

"You want to go celebrate?" Robert's voice boomed.

She saw his figure in the reflection of the glass but didn't turn around to face him. "No."

He chuckled. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Not now please. I'd like to be alone for a while."

"Look, I know Harvey might be mad right now but in the long run…"

"I said not now Robert!" She yelled, turning around in her chair. She immediately felt bad about yelling and sighed again. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to calm down. "I'm sorry."

"What's wrong? Are you really this upset about Harvey being mad?" Robert questioned. "Because it's going to be fine. He'll get over it once he does his brooding thing."

"I don't think he will get over it. He broke up with me." She informed him, seeing the look of confusion on his face.

"You two were dating again?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"For how long?" He asked.

"A few weeks." She sighed.

"But you didn't say anything."

"I was trying to keep things professional in the office." She explained, getting up from her chair. "Besides, I know that you don't like him and I didn't want to hear how disappointed you were in me."

"It's not that I don't like him…" He trailed off.

"What would you call it then?" She questioned. "You haven't been very nice to him since the whole Mike situation and you've made it clear from day one you don't think I should date him. You should be thrilled we aren't together anymore. And you got managing partner now too. It's a great day for you so I understand why you want to go celebrate. You've gotten everything you wanted. Congratulations. But for me, this is a very bad day because I essentially had to choose between you and Harvey. I chose you and it cost me the man I love. So forgive me if I don't want to go celebrate that tonight."

"Victoria, I won't lie that I don't think you should be dating Harvey, but that's just because I only want the best for you. I know about what happened after he broke up with you the first time. I know how deeply it affected you and I know how that affected the rest of your relationships. I don't want to see you get hurt again." He explained. "Harvey is a complicated man and yes I think you could do better. But in the end, it's your decision. You are the one who has to decide who makes you happy and I'll support you with whatever you decide."

"I appreciate that but it doesn't matter anymore." She shrugged.

"I still think he will get over it. And as for managing partner, I'm sorry I put you in such a difficult spot." He apologized.

"It's fine." She shrugged again.

"Obviously it isn't." He argued. "You're upset."

"I'll get over it like I've gotten over everything else in my life. Look, can we talk later?" She asked, getting up. "Go celebrate with Laura that you won because I'm not in the mood to be around people right now." Without a second glance, she left the office.


	47. Chapter 47

One Flight Down

Chapter Forty-Seven

Victoria banged on Harvey's door early the next morning. She had given him the night to stew and be mad. But now they needed to talk this through. She couldn't let him arbitrarily break up with her just because of something that happened at work. She needed him to see that her vote for Robert had nothing to do with her feelings for him. She also needed to let him know that even though she was still angry with him too, she still loved him and wanted to be with him. But he wasn't answering his door and it was frustrating.

Today was also the day they were going to make the announcement about the changes to the firm. She was hoping they could go into the office together like they had originally planned. He was probably already at the office though.

It had been ten minutes and she sighed. She would try to talk to him at the office later since he didn't want to answer the door and talk to her here. It would be harder for him to avoid her at the office.

When Victoria arrived at work, the first place she went was Harvey's office. She was disappointed to see that it was empty.

"He's not here." Donna told her.

She turned around to look at the woman. "Do you know when he will be in?"

"No, I honestly don't." Donna sighed. "He had me pass off all of his appointments onto Louis for the foreseeable future and didn't give a time frame for when he would be back."

"Back?" She questioned.

"He left town."

She wasn't expecting that answer. "Where did he go?"

"I'm not at liberty to disclose that to anyone." Donna told her.

"Donna, please?" She asked. "I really need to talk to him."

"He doesn't want to talk to anyone right now." Donna explained. "That unfortunately includes you."

"Did he tell you what happened?"

"Yeah." Donna nodded. "He told me about it when he called to make arrangements for everything."

"Let me guess. You think I betrayed him too."

"I think you did what you needed to do. I think the end result of having Robert be managing partner is the best thing for the firm." Donna explained. "But I also think you handled the whole thing badly."

"I know. I'm painfully aware of that." She agreed.

"Still, you were in a difficult position, being stuck between two powerful men who you care about." Donna mentioned. "I can see how it would be a difficult choice."

She appreciated Donna realizing that. "So he really didn't give any clue as to when he would be back?"

"No. Sorry." Donna shook her head. "And you can try to call his phone but he has it turned off. I've already tried."

"Thanks." She gave Donna a small smile and then headed back to her office. She got there and saw that Louis was standing there, looking out her window. "Hey Louis."

"I would say I told you so, but these days I'm trying to curb that instinct in me." Louis told her, turning around.

"It's ok. I know that you were right even if you don't say it." She sighed as she walked halfway into her office. "Harvey saw it as a betrayal."

"According to Donna, Harvey has decided to take some time off. In all the time he's been at this firm, he's never even take a single sick day or vacation day before. It can't be a coincidence that it comes the day after we vote."

"No, I agree. It isn't a coincidence."

"It just sucks because we are supposed to announce a new, unified firm but now we are missing a name partner. And he's dumped all of his clients on me at the worst possible time." Louis sighed. "I am swamped with my own clients and the merger paperwork."

She knew where he was going with this. "Ok. Let me help. I'll take his clients for you."

"Thanks. I was going to have you do that anyway though since you got us into this mess." He said, heading out of her office.

"That's fair enough I guess." She scoffed.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, turning back to face her. "That wasn't nice of me to say. I am as deeply entrenched in this as you are by voting for Robert. If you need any help deciphering the files, let me know."

"Louis, wait." She called out. "I'm sorry that I put you in this position. I know it wasn't fair of me to ask you to vote against Harvey like that."

"No it wasn't." He agreed. "But I've done worse to you. Besides, I've thought about it, and I think Robert will be good for this firm. I just wish it didn't hurt Harvey."

"I wish the same thing." She told him.

"I left the most pressing issues with his clients on your desk." Louis said before leaving.

She went over to her desk and sat down, noticing that there was a huge stack of files on the corner. Before she got started, she pulled out her phone and tried to call him. It didn't ring once, instead going straight to voicemail like Donna warned her would happen. He really had turned off his phone.

 _You've reached Harvey Specter. Leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can._

She waited for the beep before speaking. "Hey, I know I'm probably one of the last people in the world you want to talk to right now but I just wanted to say I was sorry. I really would like a chance to talk to you once you are ready. I'm worried about you disappearing like this. Please call me back or at least text me to let me know you're alright. I love you."

She was worried about Harvey going off and leaving like that. The fact that Donna didn't know when he would be back also worried her. She wasn't absolutely certain about where he went. She had a couple of guesses though.

She started going through the files when she noticed Robert coming into her office.

"Good morning." He greeted softly.

"Morning." She looked at his face and could tell that he seemed nervous. She figured it had something to do with the way she acted towards him last night. It was the first time that she really yelled at him and she felt bad about it. "Did you hear about Harvey?"

"No. What about him?"

"He's not here." She explained. "He's taking some time off I guess. Donna can fill you in more because she is the one who actually talked to him. But I don't think even she knows when he will be back."

"Damn." Robert sighed. "I guess he is more upset about everything than I thought if he is willing to miss the announcement for the merger."

"Yup." She nodded, going back to the files.

"Can we talk?"

"Actually, I'm trying to get caught up on Harvey's clients so I can troubleshoot for him while he is gone before the merger announcement happens and I only have thirty minutes." She explained. "Maybe later?"

"No." He said forcefully. "We're going to talk now. It won't take long. I have some things I need to say."

She looked up at him and scowled. "Robert…"

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "Ok? I'm sorry. I talked to Laura about everything last night and she made me see some things that I didn't want to see. I knew about your history with Harvey. It wasn't fair of me to put you in the middle between us. I should have been more conscious of the fact that it put you in a horrible situation."

"It did." She agreed.

"I was so used to having you on my side no matter what the circumstance that I didn't take a moment and think about how you felt. I was too focused on what I wanted."

She wasn't expecting that. It caught her off guard and she wasn't sure what to say to it.

"Laura says she could tell the night of our anniversary party that there were unresolved feelings between you and Harvey. She knew it was only a matter of time before you two started dating again. I should have made you feel comfortable enough to tell me when you started dating him again instead of making you feel like you had to hide it. I thought that telling you to stay away from him and telling him the same thing was the best way to help you. But I should have realized that it wasn't helping you. I wasn't a very good friend to you. For all of that I am sorry."

She got up from her chair, took a deep breath and then walked over to him. Without a word of warning she hugged him.

"Does this mean you forgive me?" He chuckled.

"Of course I do." She assured him, pulling back from the hug to look at him. "You know I can't stay mad at you for long."

"I am glad about that." He smiled. "So are we good?"

"We're good." She nodded.

* * *

Harvey sighed as he sat in the restaurant and waited for his lunch date. It was at that moment he spotted her. "Jessica." He stood up, watching her sit down before sitting again.

"Harvey." She smiled. "I've only been gone three days. Don't tell me you already miss me."

He grinned. "I can't lie. I do miss you. But that's not the reason for my visit or this lunch."

"Ok. Truthfully I'm surprised you made a trip to Chicago. I would have thought you would be busy dealing with the merger. Aren't you supposed to be announcing that today?"

"Yeah, but they don't need me there for that." He rolled his eyes.

"Alright." She nodded. "I'll bite. What brings you to the Windy City today?"

"Robert was voted in as managing partner last night."

"I see." She nodded. "And?"

"And what?" He asked. "He's the new managing partner now."

"I'm still not sure why that warranted a trip out here to see me." Jessica informed him. "What is the missing puzzle piece that makes everything clear?"

"Well Victoria voted for him and then persuaded Louis to do the same." He explained. "I thought that my relationship with Victoria would have meant something to her. I thought that she understood me and the reasons I wanted to be managing partner. But she betrayed me and then encouraged Louis to do the same."

"Harvey, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm still not sure why that warrants a trip out to see me. If you don't mind me asking, why are you here talking to me instead of Victoria? It sounds like she is the person you really need to talk to in order to work through this."

"We did talk last night. I broke up with her last night after the vote." He sighed.

"Let me guess. You broke up with her because you see her vote as a betrayal." Jessica sighed.

"Because that's what it is." He argued. "Both Victoria and Louis both betrayed me by voting for Robert behind my back."

"You're wrong, Harvey. It was a business decision that had nothing to do with how she feels about you." She countered. "And the fact that you can't see that or separate the business from the personal leads me to believe they made the right decision voting in Robert."

"How can you say that? Why can't you have faith in me as a managing partner?" He asked. "I thought if anyone would believe in my ability to do it, it would be you. But you are just like everyone else and don't think I'd do a good job. So why? What is so wrong with me that would prevent me from being a good managing partner?"

"Harvey, it isn't that I don't have faith in you and it isn't about thinking you wouldn't do a good job. I've always had faith in you and I always will. But managing partner isn't the right move for you at this point and I think deep down you know that. I don't think being in charge of everything is something you really want. Is it?"

"I…I don't know anymore." He sighed. "I just don't want Robert coming in to my firm and changing everything."

"He won't change everything." She assured him. "There's no way you and Louis would let him get away with that."

"Unless Louis keeps voting with Robert." He scoffed.

"What is this all really about?" She questioned.

"I just wanted your approval." He said without thinking. His own response surprised him, but it was the truth. He equated becoming managing partner with winning Jessica's approval. Dammit. That means Victoria was right. Shit.

"Well now we are getting somewhere." Jessica chuckled. "Harvey, I was your mentor for a long time but I haven't truly been your mentor for a while now. I took those training wheels off a long time ago. And let's be honest. You don't really need me or my approval anymore. You haven't for a long time."

"I know it shouldn't matter." He agreed. "But old habits die hard."

"Do you want some advice?" She questioned.

"I'm here in Chicago, aren't I?" He laughed.

"Try to cut Victoria some slack." Jessica added. "I doubt she voted for Robert as a way to hurt you. She cares about you and you obviously care about her. Try to be understanding when it comes to Louis. You know he thinks of you as his best friend so he is probably upset enough about voting against you as it is. And try to give Robert a chance as managing partner. Having him do that job frees you up to continue being the best Harvey Specter you can be. But most of all, don't let business come between your relationships, otherwise you will die old and alone. Go back to New York City. You can't run away and hide just because you didn't get your way. Go back and face it."

"I can't make any promises that I'll go back right away." He sighed.

"Very well." She chuckled. "Now since I dispensed advice to you, I'm going to order whatever I want and you are picking up the check for lunch. I might even order two desserts."

He laughed. "Of course."


	48. Chapter 48

One Flight Down

Chapter Forty-Eight

"Are you still here?" Robert asked, standing in her doorway that night.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"It's getting late." He sighed. "You should go home."

"I will…later." She promised. "I'm taking care of a few things for one of Harvey's clients."

"You know a part of me thinks you should just leave his clients hanging out to dry because of the way Harvey left us like this."

"But then you would be a horrible managing partner because that's a terrible business practice." She laughed.

"That's very true. I guess I should instead tell you good job and carry on." He laughed. "Just promise me you will leave at a reasonable hour?"

"I promise." She nodded, although she had no intention of leaving soon. It was easier to throw herself into work when she was feeling down.

"I'm serious." He chuckled. "I know you'll try to stay here all night. But you need to go home and get some rest."

She hated that he called her out because he knew her too well. She sighed. "Ok."

* * *

Harvey stood on the doorstep that evening, wondering again if this was the right choice. The door was opening so he didn't have a chance to second guess himself anymore.

"Harvey! What a surprise!" Katie smiled, bringing him in for a quick hug.

"Hey Katie." He gave a small smile.

"Was Marcus expecting you? Because he didn't say anything about you coming by."

"No." He shook his head. "This was a spur of the moment visit."

"Well it is always nice to see you." She chuckled, before the smile left her face. "But what's wrong?"

"Why does something have to be wrong for me to be here?" He scoffed lightly.

"You don't do spur of the moment visits." She reminded him. "And you have a lost look on your face. So come in here and start explaining what's wrong."

He couldn't argue with her so he entered the house and followed her into the kitchen. "How did you actually get Marcus to wash dishes? He never did that growing up and would beg to do anything but dishes."

Marcus turned around smirked. "Harvey? What are you doing here?"

"He says it is a spur of the moment visit." Katie answered for him.

"Bullshit. He doesn't do spur of the moment visits." Marcus laughed.

"That's what I told him too." She chuckled.

"Well whatever the reason, it's good to see you, ass-hat."

Despite the turmoil in his head, the fact that Marcus still called him by a crude nickname made him smile.

"Why don't you let me finish the dishes and you go take Harvey out back to talk?" Katie suggested, walking over to Marcus and taking the washcloth from his hands.

"You're the boss." Marcus chuckled, kissing her on the cheek. He went over to the fridge and grabbed two beers. "C'mon bro. Let's chat."

He followed Marcus out to the backyard, sitting next to him on the patio stairs.

"So what's up? You've never just appeared at our doorstep before."

"No, I haven't." He admitted. "And I'm sorry to do it now. I just…wasn't sure where else to go."

"Hey, it's fine. That's what family is for."

He looked over at his brother. "Do you mind if I stay here a few days?"

"Nah, it's fine. The kids would love to spend some time with you and our guest room doesn't get used that much anyway. But do you wanna tell me why you are avoiding New York City?"

He was quiet, not sure how to start.

"You didn't ruin things with Victoria already, did you?"

He wasn't sure how to answer it so he stayed quiet.

"Oh my God, you did, didn't you?"

"It's a little more complicated than that." He admitted.

"Harvey, what happened?"

"We broke up last night…or I guess more accurately I broke up with her." He told his brother.

"Are you insane?" Marcus asked softly. "Why the hell would you do that? You love her."

"Look, it's a long story." He defended himself.

"Then you better get started." Marcus sighed. "Because if you want to stay here then you have to explain the circumstances behind your breakup. Otherwise, I'm shoving you in the trunk of my car, driving you back home and leaving you on her doorstep so you two can figure it out yourselves."

He was starting to regret coming here because he didn't want to rehash everything. But maybe it would be good to talk about it. "Let's start with the merger at the firm. Since Victoria and Robert Zane were merging their business with ours and Jessica was leaving the firm, we needed a new managing partner…"

* * *

Victoria finished typing and saved the document, noticing that Mike had entered her office.

"I have the drafts done you wanted." He told her, handing her the folder.

"Thanks Mike." She smiled. "I appreciate your help with all of this."

"It's no problem." He shrugged.

"I'm still not sure why Harvey didn't simply leave you his clients instead of pawning them off on Louis."

"I am." Mike laughed. "He wanted to punish Louis by loading him up with all of the extra work."

"Ah. That makes sense." It sounded like something Harvey would do.

"Honestly, I don't think he realized that Louis would then pawn it off onto you."

"It doesn't matter." She shrugged. "Even if Louis hadn't pawned it off on me, I still would have volunteered to do it. I don't mind taking care of his clients while he is away. It's the least I can do since I am the reason he left in the first place."

"Do you need anything else?" Mike asked.

"Actually…" She hesitated to ask her next question since they didn't know each other very well. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course." He nodded.

"You know that Harvey and I dated, don't you?"

"I…well…yeah." Mike stumbled around, looking for the right words.

"It's ok." She assured him. "I know he told you we were dating again."

"Were?"

"He broke up with me because of the managing partner vote." She explained.

"Really?"

He looked shocked about that and she couldn't stop the next question out of her mouth. "Why are you so surprised by that?"

"It's just that I have known Harvey for quite a while. I've never seen him happier than he was lately and I suspected it's because you have been in his life. I guess I didn't think he would let the firms' business effect his happiness." Mike explained.

"He thinks I betrayed him." She clarified.

"Well to be perfectly honest you kind of did." Mike chuckled. "Sorry."

"No, you're right." She sighed. "I keep saying that I didn't betray him but the truth is I definitely wasn't loyal to him and I wasn't forthcoming with the fact that I was going to try and change Louis' vote. I keep thinking that maybe if I had just let him know that I was going to try and influence Louis to vote for Robert, maybe things wouldn't be so bad right now."

"I guess it's possible, but you can't go back and change things now." Mike nodded. "Look, I know we don't know each other very well. But I've seen the way he looks at you. It's the same way I look at Rachel. He might be hurt and angry right now, but give him some time. You know there was actually a time when I felt like Rachel betrayed me and we hit a rough patch. But we got through it and got back together. We're happier now than we have ever been. You and Harvey can get through it too."

"Thanks Mike." She smiled. "Why don't you go home to Rachel? I'll finish this up for tomorrow."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure." She nodded.

"Ok. Goodnight."

She wanted to believe Mike. She wanted to believe that Harvey just needed some time. But she left him that voicemail over twelve hours ago and he still hadn't texted or called back. Maybe no reply was the reply. She shook that thought from her head and refocused on the task in front of her.

* * *

Harvey sat on the bed in Marcus' guest room, a stack of towels Katie left for him sat to his right. Talking to Marcus about everything was odd. Usually they didn't share their emotions with each other. So for him to spill his guts about how Victoria's actions made him feel and how betrayed he felt was a little weird at first. But he had to admit that it felt nice to have a brother he could tell that kind of thing to without getting judged.

Sure Marcus thought that he was being an idiot and needed to head straight back to Victoria to work things out. And Marcus also believed that breaking up with Victoria a second time was something that would haunt him for the rest of his life. His brother actually had very strong feelings about that.

But still…he realized that he made the right decision coming here. After lunch with Jessica, he walked around Chicago for an hour or so. He came to the conclusion he couldn't go back to New York yet. He needed some time. As Louis liked to say, "I need a day".

He pulled out his phone and turned it back on. Earlier, when he was making the reservations for his flight to Boston he saw that Victoria had called. Numerous other people had called and left voicemails or texts. Those he just deleted without listening to or reading them because he wasn't in the mood to deal with work. If it was important enough they would call the office and Donna would direct them to Louis.

But he couldn't delete Victoria's voicemail.

He also couldn't listen to it at that time. So he ignored it, letting it taunt him in that little red notification on the phone app. Now though, he couldn't help but want to play it—if for no other reason than to hear her voice. He took a deep breath and pressed a few buttons to play the message.

" _Hey, I know I'm probably one of the last people in the world you want to talk to right now but I just wanted to say I was sorry. I really would like a chance to talk to you once you are ready. I'm worried about you disappearing like this. Please call me back or at least text me to let me know you're alright. I love you."_

She was right and wrong about some things. While a part of him didn't want to talk to her, another part of him was desperate to talk to her. It was confusing to say the least. He still considered what she did a betrayal, but it was kind of funny. Even though he considered it a betrayal, he still loved her and still wanted to be with her.

He wanted to forgive her and that was unexpected. Normally if someone betrayed him, he would cut them out of his life without looking back.

He thought about texting her just to let her know that he was alright. She sounded worried. But he knew that if he started texting her they would end up talking on the phone. And that was something he wasn't ready to do yet.

So he put his phone on do not disturb mode and placed it on the nightstand. It was late and he was exhausted. Maybe he would be able to sleep tonight.

Last night he was awake the entire time, thinking about what had happened and what he should do about it. He came up with the idea of going to see Jessica in Chicago. His trip to Boston wasn't as thought-out though. That was more spur of the moment. He wasn't lying when he said that to Katie earlier.

He told Donna to give all of his work to Louis. Mike would have been the more obvious choice to take over in his absence. Mike was capable of handling it but he wanted Louis to have to do it. He was aware that Louis would be busy with the merger paperwork as well as his own clients. Maybe it was wrong to punish Louis with the extra work. But it was too late now.

He laid his head back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. His thoughts drifted back to Victoria, like they usually did during quiet times. He wondered if she was having a hard time too. She sounded tired in her voicemail.

He knew that he had hurt her by breaking up with her again. He wasn't even sure why he went to that extreme so easily. Sure he was angry with her. But did he really have to break up with her? He wasn't sure about anything right now and closed his eyes, hoping sleep would come soon.


	49. Chapter 49

One Flight Down

Chapter Forty-Nine

Harvey sat at the bar of Marcus' restaurant two days later. He was waiting for Marcus to get done delegating work so that they could head to the stadium. He had gotten them floor seats for the Boston Celtics game. It was a pre-season game so it didn't really matter. But since they were playing the New York Knicks, it seemed like the perfect game to take him to as a thank you for letting him stay at the house.

It had now been three days since he last talked to Victoria. The voicemail she left was the only communication between them since he broke up with her. He never called her back or texted her. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to her. But he wasn't sure what to say. Things were complicated and right now it was easier to ignore the problems.

He was aware that eventually he would have to go back to New York and deal with everything. But right now he just wanted to pretend like things were fine for as long as possible.

The last two days had been fun for the most part. He liked spending some extra time with Marcus' family. Amanda and Luke were good kids and easy to love. They didn't seem to mind that he wasn't around much for the beginning of their lives and didn't hold a grudge. They just liked having an uncle, and he honestly liked being an uncle.

It was also nice to be able to see Marcus in action as a boss. Any reservations he had about Marcus' ability to manage a restaurant successfully were now gone. Watching Marcus deal with his employees and the seemingly never-ending list of problems that popped up on any given day gave him a new view of his younger brother.

He was really proud of Marcus for all that he had accomplished—not just the successful business but the successful family too. It wasn't hard to see that Marcus and Katie loved each other and they adored their kids. They were genuinely happy and he was happy for them.

But seeing Marcus and Katie together reminded him of Victoria. Though, if he wanted to be honest with himself, he could see anything and be reminded of her in some way.

She had invaded his thoughts and he couldn't get her out.

"Hey, I'm ready." Marcus said, appearing next to him. "You ready?"

"Yeah." He nodded, taking one last drink of his beer. "Let's go."

* * *

Victoria stretched her neck back and forth before letting out a long sigh. For the past couple of days she had been coming in early and staying late, doing anything and everything she could to occupy her time with work so she didn't have free time to think about Harvey.

But it was no use.

No matter what she did, she kept thinking about him. He still hadn't texted or called her back. Maybe she shouldn't have expected him to. After all, he had broken up with her. Maybe this time it was for good. She had tried to tell herself that he was just mad and that he once he calmed down he would realize that they didn't need to break up. His silence told her maybe she was wrong.

As the days went by without any response from him she felt herself getting more and more upset. She knew she hurt him. She knew he felt betrayed. But did he have to break up with her in a similar way like the first time? Did he really have to ignore her?

It had been three days since Harvey broke up with her and then left town. She asked Donna everyday if he had called and everyday Donna just shook her head with an apologetic look on her face.

She had a feeling she knew where he was. If she had to place a bet, she would say he was in Boston with Marcus. There were many times she thought about calling Marcus to see if he had heard from Harvey. But she didn't because she didn't want to seem desperate. After all, Harvey had broken up with her and had yet to send her any kind of message back.

Her greatest regret about their relationship was that she didn't fight harder when he broke up with her the first time. Granted she was younger then, but she still should have fought more to make him see that breaking up wasn't a good idea.

There were countless times where she wondered if fighting for him back then would have made any difference or if the end result would have been the same. In the end she realized that changing the past wasn't possible and the only thing she could do now is try to fix the present and the future.

She wanted the future to involve him. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. It took her a long time to stop repressing that desire because she thought it wasn't even a possibility. But then he came back into her life and sparked that desire. He made her believe that they could have a future. Then he ripped that future out of her hands suddenly.

Of course she wasn't entirely blameless in the situation. She knew she had hurt him by voting for Robert and getting Louis to vote for Robert as well. She could still see the hurt in his eyes as he realized she was behind Louis' change of heart on voting. It was a look she wished she could forget.

While she still believed she did what was best for the firm and for Harvey, she knew that way she went about it was wrong. She should have told Harvey what she was doing. She should have been honest with him about everything and she chose the wrong time to confront him about Louis' blackmail and his loose lips about their relationship.

She was still mad that he decided to tell pretty much everyone in his life about their relationship when she asked him not to. After all, he agreed to keep things quiet but then turned around and broke his word.

She could see his point of view on it. He thought that keeping something that made him happy a secret was wrong and he didn't like it. But she still thought he should have gone along with it because she asked him to do it and he agreed. He should have seen that it was important to her. He should have made it a priority. But instead he turned it into a mockery.

She finally couldn't take it any longer and pulled out her phone. Hastily, and before she could change her mind, she typed a text and pressed the send button. With that done, she took a deep breath and refocused on her work.

She got up and went out to Donna's desk. The redhead was still there even though it was getting late. "Hey Donna, do you know where the file for the failed merger Spencer tried two years ago would be hiding? It wasn't with the rest of the paperwork Louis left and I wanted to check out a few things."

"Oh sure." Donna nodded. "It should be in the file room. Do you want me to go get it for you?"

"Would you please?" She asked. "That would be great."

"No problem." Donna got up. "I'll go get that for you right now."

She went back to her office and sighed as she sat down.

* * *

The halftime show was about to start when Harvey felt his phone buzz. He pulled it from his pocket to see it was a text from Victoria. He unlocked the phone so he could read the full message.

 _I don't know if you got my voicemail from a couple of days ago but I really would like to talk everything through with you. PLEASE call me or text me back. I miss you and I love you._

"So what's your plan?" Marcus asked, pointing to Harvey's cell phone.

"What do you mean?" He chuckled, unsure what his brother was asking.

"Your plan…" Marcus repeated. "You always have a plan for everything. So what is your plan for going back to New York? What's the plan for your relationship with Victoria? It looks like she wants to work things out."

"Why are you reading my text messages?" He scoffed.

"I glanced over at just the right time." Marcus chuckled. "Don't worry. It wasn't unintentional. Maybe if you don't want someone reading your texts, try reading it somewhere other than a sold out basketball game where you are surrounded by people."

"Well to answer your question I don't have a plan." He admitted, focusing on the half time show.

"C'mon man." Marcus prodded. "You have to have some kind of plan."

"I don't this time." He shook his head. "I don't know what to do about this situation."

"Do you love Victoria?" Marcus asked.

"Of course I do."

"Do you think you can forgive her for getting Robert voted as managing partner?"

"I think so." He nodded. "But it's not just that…"

"Then what is it?" Marcus interrupted. "Whether you want to admit it or not, you've been in love with Victoria since the day you met her. You finally have another chance with her and you are torpedoing it. So what gives?"

"Do we have to have this conversation right now?" He groaned.

"When are we going to have this conversation if we don't have it now?" Marcus chuckled. "Look, I'm worried about you."

"You don't have to be."

"But I am because you are hiding out here instead of going back to face your problems. That's unlike you, Harvey. Normally you attack problems as soon as they come up. Or at the very least you have a plan to attack them. But now you are telling me that you don't even have a plan."

"Plans are overrated." He shrugged.

"Are you ever going back?" Marcus asked.

"Of course I'm going back." He scoffed. "What kind of a question is that?"

"Ok. When? When are you going back?"

"Do you want me to leave?" He asked, looking over at his brother. "Is that what this is about?"

"No. Obviously you can stay as long as you want." Marcus sighed. "I just want you to be happy and you aren't happy right now. You're good at faking it around Katie and the kids, but you can't fake it around me. Whether you'd like to admit it or not, I know you."

"I'm not…" He was about to say he wasn't unhappy, but that would be a lie. It was kind of nice to be around Marcus because he knew him so well. It was comforting. It was also annoying.

"You need to come up with a plan to be happy again." Marcus counseled.

"It's easier said than done." He sighed.

"Sometimes the hardest things in life are the things that mean the most."

"Where the hell did that come from?" He laughed. "A fortune cookie?"

"Actually yes, it was a fortune cookie." Marcus smirked. "But it applies to this conversation."

* * *

"Here you go." Donna smiled as she put the file folder on her desk. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you looking for in the old merger file?"

"Well Spencer said he tried to merge unsuccessfully a couple of years ago with a different company. I wanted to see why it didn't happen and analyze why it all fell apart. Since this merger is in danger of falling apart too, I just want to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself." She explained.

"Good luck with that." She chuckled. "If I remember correctly, Harvey had a hard time reigning in Spencer's CEO—who just happens to be his oldest daughter."

"Caitlin, right?"

"Yes." Donna nodded. "Apparently Caitlin and her father don't share the same vision for the company. So there is a possibility this merger might fail too."

She smiled. "If there is one thing I'm really good at, it's making sure that mergers go through. It's my specialty. So one way or another, this merger is happening."

"So Robert is right about you being a queen of mergers?" Louis asked from the doorway.

"I don't know about queen, but I'm pretty good." She answered.

"If you'll excuse me, I have a date to go get ready for." Donna spoke up. "I will see you both tomorrow."

"Bye Donna." She called after the woman. Then she looked back at Louis, who was now sitting down on the other side of her desk. "What can I do for you, Louis?"

"I have a client who wants to merge with a competitor but I keep running into roadblocks." Louis explained. "Robert suggested that I come to you and see if you would be willing to take a look at the case. He said you were the queen of mergers and would be able to fix things. We are supposed to close this deal in less than 48 hours but I'm starting to doubt it will happen."

She wasn't expecting Louis to ask for her help. She couldn't turn him down though. "Sure. I can take a look at it. I haven't met a merger yet that I wasn't able to get put together in time."

"Well thank you." He smiled at her and handed her the file. "I appreciate it."

"You're welcome." She took the file and put it down on her desk.


	50. Chapter 50

One Flight Down

Chapter Fifty

Victoria stood at her office window, overlooking the Manhattan skyline. It was now Friday night. She had managed to not only get the merger done for Louis' client, but also completed the merger for Harvey's client. She felt proud of herself being able to keep Harvey's client happy in his absence, and it was a nice feeling to be able to help Louis. A part of her hoped that this meant they were overcoming their earlier issues with each other.

It was also nice to be able to have some work to focus on instead of thinking about Harvey non-stop. Now that she had taken care of everything pressing, there weren't any more fires to put out.

Harvey had yet to answer her back in any way and it both angered and saddened her. It angered her because it made her feel like he didn't care at all. She was miserable without him. For all she knew, he was having the time of his life without her. It saddened her because she wasn't being given a chance to explain or just talk to him about everything that happened.

When they last talked, it had just happened and he was furious. She had hoped that once he calmed down he would talk to her. She thought that breaking up with her was just a knee-jerk reaction and he would regret it later. Maybe she was wrong though. Maybe she had to consider that he really did want to break up with her and they were done.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to clear her head.

"Am I interrupting anything?" Louis asked.

She turned, plastering a fake smile on her face, and saw Louis standing in the doorway. "No. What's up?"

"I wanted to thank you for your help with my client. They signed the merger paperwork this afternoon so it's official now."

"I'm glad." She nodded.

"So I was wondering if you wanted to get a drink. It would be my treat as a way of me saying thank you."

It was nice of him to offer but she wasn't sure she was up for it. She just wanted to wallow some more, like she had done every night since Harvey left town. It must have shown on her face.

"C'mon." He chuckled. "You can't mope around here over Harvey every night. It's not healthy and he's not even really worth it."

She couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not moping…"

"Yes you are." He interrupted her. "Seriously though, you need to get out. I need a drink because it's been a rough week. And as a fellow name partner, you shouldn't make one of your own drink alone."

She smirked. "You could always go drinking with Robert."

"No thank you." Louis laughed. "No offense to him. We just don't have much in common."

"And we do?" She chuckled.

"I don't know yet." He answered honestly. "I thought we could figure that out. But if nothing else, we both have Harvey in common."

She thought about it for a moment before nodding. Going out for a drink with Louis would be a better way to spend her Friday night than sitting around moping. At the very least, maybe they could find some common ground.

"Ok, I'm in."

"Great." He smiled. "I'll meet you in the lobby in about ten minutes?"

"Sounds good."

* * *

Harvey came back into the living room after putting the kids to bed and sat down on the couch. He then took the beer Marcus handed him and stared at the television, which was set on ESPN.

"Are the kids asleep?" Marcus asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Amanda didn't want to go to bed tonight for some reason. But she is asleep now."

"Good." Marcus nodded, turning off the TV. "Harvey, you know we love having you here, but…"

"Is this the part of the visit where you tell me politely that I've overstayed my welcome?"

"No." Marcus shook his head. "It's the part of the visit where I tell you that you are acting like an immature idiot who will lose Victoria for good if you don't do something soon."

He wasn't happy that Marcus was calling him an idiot. "You don't…"

"I know." Marcus interrupted. "I don't know what it's like to be you or to live the life you lead. I'm well aware of that. But I do know what it's like to push away the one you love until they can't take it anymore."

"What on Earth are you talking about?" He scoffed.

"Look, I didn't want to tell you this because I thought you would think less of me. But then last night Katie convinced me I should tell you because if telling you could help you pull your head out of your ass, then maybe it's worth it. About six years ago, right after Amanda was born, I relapsed into gambling again. I stopped going to meetings altogether and made mistake after mistake."

"Marcus, you should have called me." He sighed.

"We weren't on the best of terms at the time."

"Still." He shook his head. "I still would have dropped everything to help you."

"I know." Marcus also sighed before continuing. "But I didn't want help at the time."

He couldn't help but be curious about this now. "So what happened?"

"I became distant with Katie and the kids. I stayed out late pretty much every night and I just wasn't around much. I was just a shitty father and husband. Katie finally caught me in lie upon lie and called me out on it. We fought constantly for over a week. I kept telling her that I could stop whenever I wanted and that it wasn't a big deal. But it was a big deal, I couldn't stop and we both knew it."

"Marcus…"

"I kept telling her that it wasn't a big deal because I wasn't losing large amounts of money this time. They were just small bets instead of the larger ones I used to do. But it didn't matter. Any kind of gambling for a gambling addict is dangerous. She finally took the kids over to moms' for the night and then waited up for me to come home. She gave me an ultimatum. Either I stopped gambling once and for all or she would pack up my stuff and I had to leave. She even had moving boxes labeled with my name so I knew she was serious."

"What happened?"

"That night I decided my recovery was going to stay a top priority in my life. I stopped gambling again and vowed never to let it get to that point again. Katie and the kids are my world. I can live without the restaurants. I can live without gambling. But I can't live without them. And that's what I told Katie that night."

"Are you…" He tried to find the right words. "Are you still focusing on your recovery?"

"Of course." Marcus nodded. "I even have a sponsor these days, which has helped quite a lot."

"Good." He nodded. "I'm glad. But I guess I still don't see what this has to do with my issues."

"I pushed Katie to the brink. I lied to her and I kept things from her. I broke my promises to her when I started gambling again. I made her feel like she wasn't enough. But that's not what I should have done. I should have been honest with her from the start when I began gambling again."

"I agree with you on that." He sighed.

"Harvey, you lied to Victoria. You said you would keep your relationship a secret and then proceeded to break that promise by telling multiple people. Then you lied to her about doing it. And whether you know it or not, staying away and not calling or texting her back is your way of punishing her for voting with her conscience. You're making her feel like she isn't enough. Have you thought about what it must have been like for her to feel so torn between you and her mentor?"

"I've thought about that." He insisted.

"So you have thought about what you might have done if the situation was reversed and you had to choose between Victoria and Jessica?"

Truthfully he hadn't thought about that.

"So who would you have chosen?" Marcus asked. "Victoria or Jessica?"

"I…don't know." He would like to think that there would be no question in his mind about who he would choose—that it would automatically be Victoria. But then he thought about it some more. He had a special bond with Jessica, just like she did with Robert. Suddenly he realized just how horrible a position she was placed in.

"You know that if you keep this up, you're going to lose Victoria forever, right?" Marcus asked. "Because there is no way she will put up with the silent treatment forever."

"I know." He sighed. "I'm just not sure what to say to her."

"Why?" Marcus scoffed.

"Because." He hoped Marcus would let it drop, but knew there wasn't much hope of that.

"Because why?"

"Because…"

"Because why?" Marcus repeated his question.

He got so frustrated that he snapped. "Because I'm scared! Alright? You happy now? That's why. I'm scared."

There was silence for a moment before Marcus spoke again in a soft voice. "What are you scared of?"

"Look, I love her. I've never truly stopped loving her." He started to explain. "But our relationship didn't work out the first time because I was an idiot and let things with mom effect our relationship. I got mad. I let my fear of being hurt and of losing her get the better of me until I just broke up with her so she couldn't be the one to leave me."

He paused for a moment and placed the beer bottle that had been in his hand onto the coffee table. "I thought this time I would be older. I'd be wiser. I wouldn't let my fears get the better of me and I could control my temper. But I lashed out at her the first time things got really bad. I got worried that she would end up leaving me and so I ended things again."

"She wasn't leaving you though." Marcus pointed out. "She was just participating in a vote."

"I know that now. But in the moment…it felt like a personal attack." He sighed. "It's almost ironic. I'm so afraid of losing her that I always end up acting out in ways that result in me losing her." He couldn't help but chuckle at the realization.

"But you haven't lost her yet." Marcus pointed out. "She loves you and I'm sure you two can work this out. Besides, if you have come to this realization, why haven't you gone back to her and told her this? You know she would understand."

"She probably would." He agreed. "But I honestly don't know how to say it to her and I don't know if I even have the right to do it to her. I'm obviously not good at relationships. You kept telling me not to screw it up, but I did. I screwed it up big time. And no matter how hard I try, I always screw things up with her. She deserves better than that."

"I agree." Marcus chuckled. "But still…you are the one she loves. You are the one that makes her happy. When I saw her in my restaurant a few years ago and she was talking about her then-fiancée, there was no sparkle. There was no light in her eyes or crinkle in her smile. There was nothing in her demeanor that screamed 'I can't live without him'. But I see that when she's with you. I see the sparkle—the light in her eyes—the crinkle in her smile. Her whole demeanor screams that she can't live without you. And I see the exact same thing on your face when you are with her. So are you really going to sit here and tell me that you are going to let work come between you and the love of your life? Because if you are, then I feel sorry for you Harvey. I really do."

"It isn't that simple and you know it." He scoffed, taking in everything that Marcus was telling him.

"It can be though, if you make it that simple." Marcus sighed. "You know it's ok to be scared, right? Hell, I'm scared pretty much every day that Katie is going to wake up one morning and realize she can do better than me. But instead of letting that fear rule my life, I embrace the life I have."

"I really need you to stop with the motivational speeches." He chuckled.

"And I need you to pull your head out from your ass and realize that letting Victoria get away a second time would be the biggest mistake of your life!" Marcus smirked.

"You're an idiot. You know that, right?" He couldn't help but laugh.

"I may be an idiot, but I'm a happy idiot." Marcus pointed out. "And you can be a happy idiot too if you try."

"I'll think about it." He finally conceded.


	51. Chapter 51

One Flight Down

Chapter Fifty-One

Victoria got out of her rental car and looked at the house in front of her. Her private investigator managed to find the address quickly. She had called him before she left New York and by the time she landed in Boston he had texted the address to her. She was grateful.

It was Saturday now. Harvey had been gone for almost an entire week and she had still yet to hear back from him. There wasn't even a 'leave me alone' text.

After going for a drink with Louis last night, she went home to an empty place. Although she and Harvey hadn't been back together for too long, she was used to either coming home with him or going and staying at his place. Coming back to an empty place all week had been hard to get used to again.

She felt so independent before getting back together with him. But a few weeks back with him and she found herself unhappy with alone time.

She proceeded to open a bottle of wine and drank while watching the fire in the fireplace. Every crackle and snap seemed to call to her, telling her she had to take matters into her own hands with Harvey. So she resolved to at least try to track him down and talk to him.

She didn't have any confirmation that he was here so the trip might be wasted. Donna still wouldn't tell her where Harvey was, even though she was certain that Donna knew. Coming here was just a gut feeling and a spur of the moment decision. At the time this seemed like a great idea. But as she got closer and closer, her anxiety levels went up.

If he wasn't here, she would look like an idiot. But that was something she had to risk. She needed to talk to him.

She went up to the front door and took a deep breath before knocking. A few moments the door opened and she was face to face with Marcus.

"Hey! You know, I wondered how long it would be until you showed up." Marcus chuckled. "To be honest, I'm surprised it took you this long."

She gave him a small smile. "Is he here?"

"Yeah." Marcus nodded. "He's definitely here."

"I was trying to give him some space." She explained. "But enough is enough."

"Finally! Maybe you can give him the kick in the ass he needs, because I haven't been able to do it." He sighed. "I'll go get him."

"Thanks." She waited on the front porch, trying not to see the similarities between this situation and the day he came over and broke up with her in high school. Both of those times involved a serious discussion about their relationship on a front porch. She hoped this conversation went better than the last one.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

She looked at him in his casual attire and unshaven face. She had to admit that as much as she enjoyed seeing him clean-shaven and in suits, she did love seeing him with a bit of scruff on his face. Unfortunately he wasn't smiling and didn't look happy to see her. She had hoped maybe he would…that maybe time away from her had made him realize he loved her too much to break up with her again. But maybe that was too much to hope for at this point. "You've disappeared for almost a week."

"That's not entirely true." He argued. "Donna knows where I am."

"But you didn't tell me."

"Why should I?" He countered. "We aren't together anymore."

"I don't accept that…I can't accept that." She scoffed. "You're mad and you're hurt. And I understand that because I'm mad and hurt too. But do you really want to throw everything we have away because of the firm?"

"I don't really want to talk about this right now."

"Well I do and I think you owe me this." She informed him.

"I owe you?" He scoffed.

"Yes." She nodded. "You can't arbitrarily declare we are over and then disappear like this. It's not fair."

"Last time I checked, I can do whatever I want." He informed her. "And don't get me started on what's fair and what's not fair. It's not fair that you show up at my brother's house and do this surprise attack…"

"What was I supposed to do?" She interrupted his rant. "You wouldn't call me back or answer my text."

"Excuse me…" Katie said, appearing behind Harvey. "Marcus told me you were here and I had to come say hello."

"Hi Katie." She smiled.

"Katie, not now please." Harvey said quietly.

"I was just putting the finishing touches on lunch." Katie said, obviously ignoring Harvey. "Would you like to stay and eat with us?"

"Oh." She appreciated the offer but wasn't sure that would be the best thing right now. "I…"

"She was actually just leaving." He interrupted, giving her a pointed look.

She thought about it for a split second before turning to Katie. "Actually, I would love to stay for lunch. Thank you so much for the invitation."

"Great!" Katie smiled. "Why don't you come with me?"

Katie didn't give her a chance to respond, instead grabbing her hand and practically dragging her to the kitchen. In some ways she didn't mind because Harvey looked angry that she was staying. But she needed to talk to him. The longer she was here with him, the harder it would be for him to ignore her. Besides, she needed to work up the courage to do what she came here to do.

"I thought maybe we should get you off the porch before Harvey started cursing." Katie laughed.

"Yeah." She chuckled. "I think he was only a few seconds away from letting out the expletives."

"I'm sorry you won't get to meet the kids." Katie apologized. "Every Saturday they have a standing visit with their grandmother. Lily is so great with them."

"How is Lily doing?" She couldn't help but be curious.

"She is good." Katie smiled. "I told her about how Harvey was seeing you again and she was very happy. She says to say hello."

"Please tell her hello back."

"I will." Katie promised.

"Though Harvey and I aren't seeing each other anymore."

"It's just a bump in the road." Katie said.

"I'm not so sure." She sighed. "He didn't look very happy to see me."

"It will be fine. You know how stubborn Harvey can be. Marcus and I actually talked about when we thought you would show up. I said right around the one week mark."

"Really?" She was intrigued by the fact that Marcus and Katie were talking about her.

"Yeah." Katie nodded, pulling potato salad out of the refrigerator. "Marcus thought you would be out here immediately, but I thought you would try to give Harvey some time to cool off first."

"You were right." She nodded. "That's exactly what I was doing."

"How did you know he was here?"

"I didn't know for sure." She admitted. "I just had a feeling this is where he would go."

"You know him well." Katie interrupted.

"Yeah. I guess so." She nodded. "Is there anything I can do to help you get lunch ready?"

"No, but thanks." Katie shrugged. "If you want, you can help me take it outside when it's time. But I have everything else under control."

"Has Harvey been here the whole week?" She asked, feeling curious. It seemed like she would get better answers from Katie than Harvey right now.

"He's been here for several days." Katie answered. "It's been nice seeing him and the kids are thrilled to have some extra time with their Uncle."

She chuckled at the thought of Harvey as an Uncle. She guessed that he was a good one though. "I bet it is nice for them."

"He would kill me if he knew I was telling you this, but honestly, Harvey hasn't been very happy this week. He fakes it around me and the kids. But he is miserable without you."

She didn't want him to be miserable. She just wanted him to miss her enough to get back together. It did make her feel better though that he wasn't having too good of a time without her. "I won't tell him you said anything. It can be our secret."

"Thanks." Katie smiled.

* * *

"So Victoria's here." Marcus said as he changed channels on the tv.

"Yeah. Looks like it." He replied as he sat on the other side of the couch.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing." He answered. "I'm not ready to talk to her yet."

"You've had almost a week." Marcus reminded him. "How much more time do you need?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Ok?"

"Well she is here now so my advice is just talk to her. She came all the way out here to see you. That has to count for something. Listen to her."

"I can't make any promises." He sighed. Seeing her on the doorstep was surprising. He didn't know how she found him. He knew Donna wouldn't tell anyone where he was. While it was wonderful to see her again, to smell her perfume and be able to look into her eyes…he wasn't sure how to talk to her right now.

He wanted to scoop her up in his arms and never let go. But could he do that? Should he do that? They were only back together for a few weeks before he screwed up again and broke up with her. She deserved better than that. Yes he was angry and feeling hurt, but the rational response wasn't to break up. Yet that was his default setting when things got too hard. Even now, seeing her on the porch…his default setting was to be cold and distant.

* * *

She stepped out into the backyard after helping Katie clean up the mess from lunch, seeing Harvey sitting on the top step of the patio. Lunch was awkward, with Harvey being extra quiet. Marcus and Katie did a nice job of making sure she didn't feel too out of place, but it wasn't a fun lunch like when they all had dinner together in New York. She went over and sat next to him. "Hey."

"I was just going inside." He moved to get up.

She put her hand on his arm. "Harvey stop. Please, just give me a few minutes before I leave."

"Fine." He sighed.

She moved sideways so that she was facing him. "I know you think what I did was a betrayal…"

"Because it was a Goddamn betrayal!" He interrupted.

"I know." She admitted softly. "I tried to convince myself that it wasn't but it was and I'm sorry. I could spend hours trying to explain it but the bottom line is that I got Louis to vote for you by appealing to his love of the firm. We were in trouble because we didn't have a managing partner and we couldn't go on for much longer without naming one. I knew that neither you nor Robert would give up on being managing partner so the only thing I could do was try to sway Louis. But I didn't do it to hurt you or get back at you for lying to me. I did it because I truly think your talents are better used closing clients and winning cases."

She paused to make sure he was still listening. He wasn't looking over at her. Instead he was looking at the ground. She decided to continue anyway. "I'm sorry if you felt like I wasn't supporting you enough or being a good enough girlfriend. Maybe I wasn't a good enough girlfriend. I just…I wanted there to be peace and order in the firm. I thought Robert being managing partner would do that. And it did. It has."

She paused again for a moment. "But I didn't come here to talk about that. I came here because I wanted to apologize in person. I know that I hurt you. I should have been honest with you about going to Louis and I should have told you what I was doing before I did it. Maybe that would have helped. Then again, maybe not. It's hard to say at this point because it is all speculation. The point is, I know I hurt you and I'm sorry."

"You came all the way out here to say that?" He questioned.

"That's not the only reason." She sighed. "I also wanted to hand you this in person." She pulled a document out of her back pocket and gave it to him.

"What is it?" He asked, opening the document.

"You'll see." She told him, watching him read it.

"What the hell?" He finally asked.

"I know how you feel about betrayal." She answered. "And if you don't think you can get past this…if you really want us to be over…then I'm stepping down from the firm. I'll get my partner buy-in back and leave the firm. That way you won't have to deal with me anymore. I can be completely gone from your life and you can pretend I never existed. Also, you and Louis would be able to outvote Robert on any issue with a majority vote."

"You really want to leave?" He asked in a quiet voice after a few minutes.

"No." She shook her head. "I don't want to leave. I want to fight for us, like we should have in high school when things got too tough. I don't want this to be the end because I really wanted this to be a beginning. I know you are mad at me and feel hurt. Honestly, I'm mad at you and feel hurt as well. But I still want to be with you. This past week without you has been horrible. I just know I can't fight for us by myself. You have to want to fight too."

She watched him as he stared at the document in his hands. The expression on his face was unreadable. "I came here to tell you that I love you more than anything in the world. I wanted to show you that I love you more than I love being a name partner because in the end the firm doesn't matter to me. You matter to me. And I hope you love me like that too. I hope you will come back so we can work through this. I hope you will fight for us and I hope this isn't the end. But if it is the end, I hope you can find happiness."

He still wasn't saying anything or even looking at her. So she decided to leave him alone. She went back inside and grabbed her purse.

"You leaving?" Katie called out.

She turned to see her standing in the doorway. "Yeah. I need to get back."

"I wish you could stay longer." Katie sighed.

"I'd love to stay longer but I think all things considered I should go." She explained. "Thank you for lunch."

"You're welcome."


	52. Chapter 52

One Flight Down

Chapter Fifty-Two

Harvey shifted nervously on his feet while in the elevator on Monday. He had actually come back yesterday. Victoria's visit on Saturday made him decide it was time to come back to reality, but he chose to stay an extra night so he could spend a little more time with his niece and nephew.

He remembered the talk he had with Katie after Victoria left.

" _So how did that go?" Katie asked, coming out to sit next to him on the patio step._

" _How do you think?" He scoffed. "It didn't go great."_

" _I know you probably don't want any more advice." She laughed. "I know Marcus has been whispering in your ear this entire time about what you should do."_

" _Yeah." He couldn't help but laugh. "He has. If the restaurant business ever fails, he could become a motivational speaker."_

" _I'll be sure to pass that career advice on to him." She smirked. "So since he has been talking your ear off, I won't give you advice. I'll just give you my observations. Is that alright?"_

" _I guess." He shrugged._

" _You love her. She loves you. That is the only thing that matters." She told him._

" _It should, but…"_

" _No." She interrupted. "There are no buts…It's truly the only thing that matters. You know my relationship with your brother hasn't always been easy. But the thing that always draws us back together is that we love each other. So either you truly love Victoria and can get through this, or you don't truly love her and you need to let her go once and for all. Because all the other obstacles and challenges don't really matter at the end of the day if you love the other person. But that's just my observation." She patted him on the leg and then went back inside._

He had to admit that Katie had a point. Marcus had a point too. So he came back. But he didn't know how to approach Victoria yet. He didn't want to just knock on her door because he wasn't sure what he would say—what he could say.

He could see it in her eyes and it was written on her face. She was hurt and angry—mostly hurt though. While she was also mad at him, the main issue was her being hurt. He had to figure out how fix things. So he stayed in his penthouse yesterday, staring at the paperwork she gave him.

The fact that she was willing to leave the firm was unexpected because he knew how excited she was to become a name partner. Her eyes lit up when she talked about it. But she was willing to sacrifice her career to make him happy. That meant a lot to him. But he couldn't let her do it because it wasn't fair to her. Even if they didn't work out, it wouldn't be fair to push her out of the firm.

He took a deep breath as the elevator doors dinged. Putting on his mask of confidence, he strutted out and down the hallway towards Robert's office. "Got a moment?" He asked from the doorway.

"Harvey!" Robert looked up and smiled. "Glad to see you are back. Come on in."

He came into the office and sat down.

"Did you enjoy your time away?" Robert asked.

"It was a much needed break." He admitted, realizing that Robert was being nice and not making a big deal about his absence. He appreciated it and realized that if the situation was reversed, the first thing out of his mouth would have been an accusation about leaving the firm when they needed him the most. Maybe Victoria was right and Robert was better suited to be managing partner.

"Good." Robert nodded.

"Robert, I probably should apologize for what happened at the vote."

"It's alright." Robert assured him. "You were upset and you had a right to be upset. I'm sure we all could have handled the situation better than we did."

"Still…I want you to know that my anger wasn't because I thought you would do a bad job as managing partner. I just also wanted to be managing partner. But since I wasn't voted that, I will respect your authority."

"I appreciate that." Robert nodded.

"That's all I wanted to say." He got up and started to leave.

"Harvey!"

"Yeah?" He turned around slowly to face Robert again. He figured that Robert was going to say something about the Victoria situation. By now he was certain that the man knew about their relationship. Surely he had an opinion about it.

"Since you are back, let's have a partner meeting tonight at 7pm. We can catch you up on everything that's happened this past week."

"Ok." He nodded slowly. That was unexpected but was more ammunition to prove that Victoria was right about Robert being a good managing partner. He left the office before Robert could say anything else. He didn't want to press his luck. The next place he needed to go was Louis' office.

"Harvey!" Louis smiled. "It sure is good to see you!"

"So what did I miss?" He asked, going over and sitting across from Louis' desk.

"A lot." Louis chuckled. "Harvey, I want you to know that I'm sorry about…"

"It's alright Louis." He assured him. "I don't harbor any anger towards you for your vote anymore. I see that it was the right decision and I've made my peace with it."

"Wow. I was definitely not expecting that reaction." Louis admitted.

"Well I've had some time to think about things and I'm not going to hold a grudge about it. You voted for the right person to fill the job. I shouldn't be bitter about that." He explained.

"Thank you Harvey." Louis smiled. "You have no idea how great it is to hear you say that. I was worried you would still be mad about it."

"I'm not." He shook his head. "So what did I miss with my clients?"

"Your clients?"

"Yeah. I left you with my clients to handle anything that came up." He looked at Louis suspiciously. "You did handle them, right?"

"Not exactly." Louis winced. "I gave all of your clients' work to Victoria. Actually she volunteered so I let her."

"So she had been handling everything?" Harvey asked. That was another unexpected situation.

"Yes." Louis nodded. "I'm surprised she didn't say anything to you about it."

"Well I haven't seen her since I've been back." He admitted. "I went to Robert's office and then here."

"Why haven't you talked to her?" Louis asked. "Are you avoiding her?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but maybe I am avoiding her. So what though? It's not a big deal."

"Sure. Of course it isn't a big deal." Louis rolled his eyes. "Well if you want a run down on everything she has done, I suggest you talk to her about it."

"Or I could just talk to Donna." He reasoned. "I'm sure Donna knows all about it too."

"You should talk to Victoria though." Louis sighed.

"I will at some point." He told his friend.

"You should now." Louis badgered him. "She's been miserable without you."

"How would you know?" He questioned.

"I know because I've seen it." Louis explained. "All you have to do is look into her eyes whenever the subject of you comes up."

"And you have been talking about me?" He was getting curious now. "Are you two best friends now?"

"No." Louis shook his head. "But I'd like to think we are friends now."

"Friends?" He scoffed. "You mean to tell me she forgave you for trying to blackmail her?"

"Yeah. She did." Louis nodded. "She's a very forgiving person."

"Obviously." He was surprised that Victoria would forgive Louis so easily. But he probably shouldn't have been so surprised by that. It was in her nature to be forgiving. Still, it was weird to have Louis and Victoria be friends so quickly. He couldn't help but wonder what all he missed.

"I should go see what's been going on and jump back into it." He got up and walked out of the office. As he strode down the hallways towards his office, he saw people glance at him a little longer than normal. He imagined it had something to do with the fact that he disappeared for a week. Keeping his head held up high, he ignored everyone.

It wasn't long before he found himself in front of Victoria's office. He looked inside and saw that it was empty. He couldn't help but wonder why it was empty.

"She's not here." Donna said, coming up and standing beside him. "She has a deposition and a couple of client meetings today so she won't be back until later this afternoon."

"Whatever." He shrugged, trying to play it off like he didn't care. But a part of him was disappointed Victoria wasn't here. He walked into his office, aware that Donna was following him.

"So how are Marcus and his family?" Donna asked.

"They are good." He said, sitting in his chair and powering on his laptop.

"I'm glad." Donna nodded. "How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"So you're over your little temper tantrum now?" She chuckled.

"It wasn't a temper tantrum." He scoffed, glaring at her.

"Then what do you call it?" She shrugged. "You didn't get the job you wanted so you took your ball and went home."

"Donna…" He warned her. "Drop it."

"Fine." She agreed. "Did you get the giant stick removed from your ass so you can get back together with Victoria?"

"I'm not discussing this with you right now." He shook his head.

Donna sighed. "Fine."

"Are you going to tell me what happened with my clients while I was gone or are you just going to stand there all day?" He finally asked.

"Have it your way." She shrugged. "Well Victoria was amazing with your clients…"

* * *

Victoria got off the elevator and made sure she wasn't going to run into anyone before going back to looking at her email. Before she got too far from the elevator, she heard Robert call to her. Turning around, she saw him approach. "Hey."

"How was the deposition?" He asked.

"I think they realize settling this case is in their best interest so I wouldn't be surprised if I get a settlement offer soon—maybe even by the end of the day." She smiled. That was news she expected would make him happy but it didn't get even a smile from him. "What's going on? Why are you doing that thing with your face?"

"Harvey is back." He told her.

"Oh." That surprised her. She tried not to be hurt that he hadn't tried to reach out to her since he was back. But maybe not trying to talk to her was his way of communicating with her.

"There will be a partner meeting tonight at 7pm." He went on to explain. "That way we can fill him in on everything he missed and all get back on the same page about everything."

"Sure." She nodded. "Ok. I'll be there."

"You ok?" Robert asked.

She put a fake smile on her face. "Of course I am. I'll see you later." She turned and walked slowly back towards her office. It hit her a moment later that to get to her office she would have to pass his.

She slowed her pace a little as she got to his office. It was nice to look inside and see him back at his desk. He was writing something down, staring at his desktop. So she took this opportunity to look at him for a moment. He was back to being clean-shaven and in a suit. She wondered how long he had been back.

She was about ready to stop looking at him and go back to her own office when he looked up and over at her. Their eyes locked. She couldn't read the expression on his face no matter how hard she tried.

She wondered for a moment if she should go in and try to talk to him. But then she realized she went to him last time and didn't have anything new to say to him. It would just be the same thing again. If he wanted to talk to her, he would have to come to her this time. So she broke the eye contact and walked back to her office.


	53. Chapter 53

One Flight Down

Chapter Fifty-Three

Victoria followed Robert into the conference room for the partner meeting. She had been dreading this meeting all afternoon because she didn't know how to be in the same room with Harvey right now. She didn't know what he was thinking or what he was going to do.

She hadn't told anyone about the papers she gave him in Boston. Robert would have just yelled at her about how she couldn't do that and how insane the whole thing was. While she had gotten on better terms with Louis now, she realized that the idea of being able to outvote Robert again would take precedent over their budding friendship.

The papers were signed and ready to be executed. All Harvey had to do was pull them out and she would have her answer about their relationship. She wondered if he was going to bring the papers out tonight or if he was going to talk to her about it before he pulled the trigger. Either way, the ball was in his court.

They had been avoiding each other for the past several hours. When she was in the break room grabbing coffee, he appeared in the doorway. It seemed like he wanted to come in and grab something, but since she was there he left without coming through the threshold. When she went to the file room to grab a document, she saw him there already so she turned and went back to her desk.

It was awkward and she hoped it wasn't always going to be this way. But it honestly didn't bode well for the outlook of their relationship if they couldn't even be alone in the same room.

She sat down at the table. Robert was at the head of the conference table so she sat to the right of him on the side farthest away from the door. Louis was already in the room, sitting on the opposite side. It only took another moment before Harvey appeared, sitting directly across from her.

She took this opportunity to get a good look at him close up. He looked rested, like his time in Boston had been good for him. She wished she could say the same. She wasn't sleeping well and noticed that every day she had to pile on more makeup just to keep from looking exhausted. It was slightly pathetic that she was letting herself get so worked up over a guy. She prided herself over being independent.

This situation with Harvey was messing with her. At this point she just wanted an answer about whether they could work things out or not. But she refused to be the one to make the first move. That's what her trip to Boston was so now it was his turn.

"We can now get started." Robert announced. "I think I speak for everyone when I say that we are glad to have you back, Harvey."

"Thanks." Harvey grinned for a moment. "It's nice to be back again."

"I don't anticipate this to be a long meeting. I just thought that we could fill Harvey in on what has happened in his absence so we can all be on the same page again about the firm. Louis, why don't you start by filling him in about the financials?"

"Sure thing." Louis opened his padfolio. "So with the costs of merging and everything…"

* * *

Robert was true to his word. The meeting only lasted about a half hour. Harvey never once made any move like he was going to bring out the paperwork and end her career at the firm. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to. It just meant he wasn't going to tonight.

She left the office right after the meeting ended, choosing to come back to her place instead of grabbing a drink in Robert's office like he suggested. She had immediately gotten into her pajamas and poured herself a glass of wine. She was on her second glass when there was a knock on her door.

She sat her glass on the counter before making her way towards the door. She both hoped it was and hoped it wasn't Harvey on the other side. Opening the door, she was surprised to see no one there. It wasn't until she was about to shut the door when she saw it. There on the ground was a file folder with a post it note. She hesitated for a moment before picking it up. It was clearly Harvey's handwriting and held two words scrawled on it.

 _Don't leave._

She opened the folder to see that inside were the papers she had given to Harvey. They were completely torn up into shreds. She couldn't stop the smile from forming on her face. It was then that she looked up and found Harvey suddenly standing in front of her.

"Please don't leave." He whispered.

"And why should I stay?" She whispered back, wanting an honest answer. Seeing him at her doorstep and knowing that he had torn up the paperwork was a good start. But did that just mean he didn't want her to leave the firm? Or did he want to get back together?

He sighed. "You aren't going to make this easy for me, are you?"

She slowly shook her head. "No. Now where would the fun be in that?"

He smirked. "Ok. You should stay because I've been an idiot."

She chuckled. "An idiot? Really? I think I need more of an explanation than that."

"Let me in and I'll tell you anything you want to know."

She pretended to think about it for a moment before stepping out of the way so he could come inside. He came into her place and stopped by the end of her kitchen counter. She closed the door and went over to stand a couple of feet away from him. "So please tell me more about how you've been an idiot."

"I've made some decisions that weren't the best." He explained. "I shouldn't have disappeared for a week. I should have told you where I was or at least answered you when you tried to get a hold of me. I shouldn't have told people about our relationship when I told you I would keep it a secret. And I definitely shouldn't have broken up with you."

"No you shouldn't have." She agreed. "You really hurt me."

"I know." He nodded, coming closer to her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "I'm so sorry. I was angry and I was hurt. But I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. You didn't deserve it."

"No I didn't." She sighed. "I mean, I deserved some anger, but I felt like you went too far by breaking up with me."

"I spent a lot of time thinking about why I jumped to that extreme…why I seem predisposed to simply break up when the situation doesn't warrant that."

"And what did you come up with?"

"I'm afraid." He admitted.

"Of what?" She scoffed.

"Of losing you." He confessed.

She pulled out of his grasp and walked over to the window. "So you're telling me that your fear of losing me causes you break up with me? That doesn't make much sense to me right now."

"I know it's weird." He agreed, walking over to stand next to her. "When I feel like I might lose you, I tend to try and beat you to the punch by breaking up with you before you can break up with me. I didn't realize it at the time. But when I broke up with you in high school, it was because I thought you would end up breaking up with me. I thought you would move to Arizona and find someone else. So I decided to save myself heartbreak later on by picking a fight with you and ending things right there."

"But I wouldn't have broken up with you." She informed him, turning to face him. "That was the last thing I wanted."

"I know that now." He chuckled darkly. "Young Harvey was a moron. Though apparently older Harvey is just as much a moron. Because then this time, I was hurt and angry. I kept thinking that this was the way things would always be—you would always choose Robert over me anytime there was a conflict."

"But I didn't really chose Robert over you…"

"I know." He assured her. "It just felt that way. And I panicked. I broke up with you before you could break up with me."

She thought about what he was saying. Now that he explained it, it made a little more sense. "I get that, but this is the second time you've broken up with me. How am I supposed to trust that you won't do it again?"

"All I can do is ask that you take a leap of faith with me." He answered. "Now that I know that's what I'm doing and why I'm doing it, I can only hope that I won't make the same mistake a third time. Because believe me, breaking up with you is always a mistake. I love you Victoria. I hope you can believe me when I say that."

She searched his face and could tell he was being sincere. "I believe you, Harvey. And I love you too. I just…"

He grabbed her hands in his, effectively cutting off her statement.

"I think we can agree that we have both made some mistakes lately. Right?"

She had to admit he had a point there. "Yes. I know I wasn't completely innocent in this situation."

"Can we just forgive each other?"

"I'd like to." She told him. "But you can't go around breaking up with anytime you feel scared or I do something you don't like. You have to be able to talk to me about it or cope with it in a healthier way."

"I can promise to try." He smiled. "Does that mean we are back together now?"

"What does this tell you?" She smirked, pulling her hands from his grasp and wrapping her arms around his neck. She cozied up to him, starting to kiss his lips. It only took a second for him to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her closer.

They stood there staring at each other for a moment before they both moved at the same time. His arms wrapped around her waist. She threw the folder back behind her before wrapping her arms around his neck. When their lips met, she almost started to cry because it felt like she was home again.

They stood in her doorway, making out for a few minutes before they pulled apart to catch their breath. He leaned his forehead up against hers.

"Tell me you aren't going to leave." He whispered.

"I'm not going to leave unless you want me to." She whispered back.

"I don't want that." He told her, pulling away to look at her.

"Then I'm not going anywhere except wherever you are." She promised.

He smiled. "Maybe we should take this inside then because what I want to do with you isn't something that should be done in the hallway."

She smiled back. "Maybe we should because I also have things I want to do with you."


	54. Chapter 54

One Flight Down

Chapter Fifty-Four

Harvey sat up in bed and watched as Victoria brought in two cups of coffee the next morning. She looked sexy being wrapped up in a bedsheet like it was a toga and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. While he was aware during that past week that he missed her, he didn't realize just how badly he missed her until he was back in her presence again.

She had this funny way of making anywhere they were feel like home and he never wanted it to end.

"Here you go." She smiled, handing him a cup.

"Thanks." He took a sip and then put it on the bedside table. "What are the odds that you would be willing to play hooky from work today and just stay here in bed with me?"

"The odds are very low, considering you just came back from a week-long trip. You keep taking time off and everyone is going to start questioning your commitment to the firm." She laughed, placing her coffee on her bedside table.

He watched as she loosened the bedsheet around her. It fell to the floor and she climbed back into bed. "Well that's no fun."

"Oh, were you looking for fun?" She chuckled. "Why didn't you just say so? The most I can do is stay in bed with you until 9am. Then I have to get ready to go in."

He looked at the clock and frowned. "That's only another two and a half hours though."

"Take it or leave it." She smiled before leaning in to kiss him. "It's my final offer."

"I'll definitely take it. I don't want to pass up on spending time with you." He smirked.

"Good. I was hoping you could say yes to that compromise."

"Oh, before I forget…I have something for you."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "Is it more of what you gave me last night?"

He chuckled. "You can have that anytime you want. Right now I'm talking about an actual present."

"You didn't have to get me a present." She protested.

"I wanted to." He explained. "I wanted to get you something to show you just how committed I am to us. So close your eyes."

"Seriously?" She chuckled.

"Seriously." He got out of bed and found his pants on the floor. Looking over, he saw that she did have her eyes closed. He pulled out her present and went back to the bed. "Now hold out your hands."

"Ok."

Once she had her hands out, he put the item down and closed her hands over it. "There you go."

"Can I open my eyes now?" She asked.

"Yes." He told her, watching as she opened her eyes and opened her hands. She was quiet as she stared at the object. Every second she was quiet made him nervous. He thought it was a good idea to give her a key to his place. But now maybe he was wrong.

"Harvey…"

"It's a key to my place so you can come and go whenever you want." He explained. "I also cleaned out some space in my closet and a drawer last night before I came over. So if you want to keep some stuff at my place you can. I know you just live one flight down so it isn't like you live across town, but I thought maybe this would be a good way to show you that I am serious about us. I'm committed and I want us to work."

He was aware that he was rambling but couldn't stop himself. "I really do love you and I was hoping this would show you…

He wasn't able to finish that sentence because she practically tackled him, pushing him back down onto his pillow and kissing him.

"I love it." She whispered once she pulled away. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiled. "What do you say to dinner tonight with me? I thought maybe we could go out."

"I'd like that." She nodded. "Now are you going to make the most of your extra time or not?"

He chuckled and brushed some hair out of her face. "I fully intend to make my extra time count."

Later that morning, Harvey rode up the elevator with Victoria. He looked over at her and noticed that she looked nervous. "What's wrong?"

She looked over at him and shook her head. "Nothing."

"C'mon." He gently nudged her arm.

"We haven't talked about how we are going to act in the office."

"No, we haven't." He admitted. It was something he planned on talking about with her tonight, but apparently they needed to have a quick talk about it before they reached their floor.

"I know you think keeping it a secret is a stupid idea, but…"

"It's ok." He interrupted her. "I mean, I obviously can't make people who know forget about it. But I can agree to not tell anyone else about us for a while if it's really that important to you."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise." He watched as she bit her lip, a tell-tale sign of nervousness. "What aren't you saying?"

She sighed. "It's just that the last time I asked you not to say anything, you also promised. And then you still went around telling people."

He looked at the elevator and saw they still had twenty floors left until they needed to exit. Normally he hated these slow elevators. Today it was a saving grace. He grabbed her hands. "I know that I've made you doubt me and I'm sorry about that. But I swear on my life that I will never break another promise to you. Please believe me."

She stared into his eyes for a moment. "Ok. I believe you."

At this point he wasn't sure if she really believed him or was just saying it. Either way, he knew that only time would fix things. The elevator stopped and he looked to see that they were on the 50th floor now. She pulled her hands from his grasp and left the elevator first. He decided to let her go because there was somewhere he needed to go.

He walked down the hallway with purpose, determined to have this conversation. It was going to be awkward but necessary. He knocked on Robert's door. "Are you busy?"

"Of course I am." Robert laughed. "But come on in. What can I do for you?"

He entered Robert's office and sat down in the chair across from the desk. "I think we need to have a discussion about Victoria."

Robert scoffed. "Alright. I'll bite. What should we be discussing?"

"I assume you know about how I broke up with her before I left."

"Yes." Robert nodded. "I know all about it."

"Well we are back together now."

"Alright."

"That's all you have to say about it?" He chuckled. "Alright?"

"What would you like me to say, Harvey?"

He could tell that this was going to be difficult to have this conversation with Robert. It was like pulling teeth to get anywhere. "Look…I know you have some reservations about me dating Victoria, especially after what happened because of the partner vote."

"You mean when you flipped out and broke her heart again?" Robert pointed out. "You know I was there after she got left at the altar. I know what it was like for her to be that embarrassed…that humiliated…that blindsided and that sad. Yet it was nothing compared to what you did to her. You broke up with her and the spark in her eyes went away. So yeah. I have some reservations as you like to call it."

He wasn't aware that Victoria was that hurt by their breakup and now felt even worse than before. He was about to talk again but Robert beat him to it.

"But, as Laura has pointed out several times in the past week or so, I need to stop treating Victoria like she is a child. She's a grown woman who can make her own decisions. She can decide who she wants to give her heart to, and for some strange reason she keeps choosing you. There must be something I'm missing because I don't see what's so damn special about you. But she does so it must be hiding in there somewhere because she is a good judge of character."

"I think that's one of the nicest things you have said to me in years." He couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm a proud man, Harvey, but I'm not too proud to admit that part of my issues with you dating Victoria stem from the fact that I'm still angry about your role in hiring Mike as a fraud. You almost ruined Rachel's life."

It occurred to him that he never apologized for that. He apologized to Jessica, Louis, Mike, Rachel and Donna. But not Robert. "I'm sorry Robert. I know that hiring Mike when he didn't have a law degree and wasn't in the bar was a reckless decision. It set in motion a series of events that caused Rachel pain and I'm sure it also caused heartache for you and Laura. And for that I'm sorry."

Robert was quiet for a moment and he wasn't sure what the man's reaction to the apology was going to be.

"You really mean that." Robert finally spoke.

"Of course I do." He nodded.

"It takes a big man to apologize like that." Robert chuckled. "Maybe you aren't quite as bad as I thought."

"See now you're just embarrassing me with all of these compliments." He joked, causing Robert to laugh with him.

"In all seriousness though…" He said after a moment. "If my relationship with Victoria is going to work then we need to figure out a way to keep her from feeling like she is being torn between us. I'm not saying we have to agree on everything because that's unrealistic. But…"

"No, I get what you are saying." Robert interrupted. "It wasn't fair to put her in the middle of the partner vote, and I've already apologized to her about that."

"She cares a lot about you." He told Robert. "She doesn't want to let you down."

"I don't think she could ever let me down." Robert chuckled.

"So can we call a truce and agree to leave Victoria out of any disagreements we get into in the future?" He asked.

"I suppose so." Robert held out his hand and they shook on it.

"Thank you." He got up and turned to leave. Just as he was at the door he heard Robert's voice again.

"Oh and Harvey?"

"Yeah?" He said, turning around to face Robert.

"I think it goes without saying that if you break her heart again you will have to deal with me, right?"

"Right." He nodded, noting that Robert looked completely serious. He left Robert's office before the man could say anything else.


	55. Chapter 55

One Flight Down

Chapter Fifty-Five

Victoria twirled around, glancing at herself in the mirror. Harvey had texted her around noon to let her know the suggested dress code for their dinner tonight. The fact that she needed to dress somewhat fancy intrigued her. She had a dress in the back of her closet that she bought about six months ago but had yet to wear. It was a dark purple dress that went all the way down and hugged every curve. After she slipped it on, she realized it was the right dress.

A knock on the door alerted her to the fact that it was time to leave. So she grabbed her purse and hurried to the door. "Hey." She greeted him. He was wearing a black suit with a black tie and he looked really handsome. She must have been staring because he was smirking at her.

"See something you like?" He chuckled softly.

"Maybe." She smiled.

"You look beautiful." He told her, leaning in to kiss her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss, disappointed when he pulled back too quickly.

"As much as I would like to continue this and maybe take it into the other room, we need to leave. If we aren't careful we will be late for our reservation." He explained.

"Alright." She pretended to pout for a moment. "So where are we going?"

"It is actually a surprise." He told her, holding out his arm for her to take as they walked down the hallway.

"Care to give me a hint?" She asked.

"No hints this time." He shook his head.

"Ok." She chuckled. If he wanted this to truly be a surprise, then she would let it drop.

The car ride with Ray wasn't very long. Or maybe it just didn't feel like a long ride because she was so relaxed. Things finally seemed to be going well for them. The managing partner vote wasn't hanging around her neck like a noose. They were on the same page about making sure that their relationship stayed a secret for the most part at work. And they were back together, as evidenced by the fact that Harvey had been holding her hand the entire time they were in the car.

He only let go once they reached their destination so he could get out of the car and hurry to her side. She watched as he opened her door and held out his hand to her. She took it, gingerly getting out of the car and looking at their surroundings.

"Harvey…is this…"

"The Restaurant Daniel?" He finished her question. "Yes. It is. "

"This is one of the fanciest places in the city." She stated.

"Yes. It is." He nodded.

"How the hell did you get a reservation here so quickly?" She had to admit she was impressed. Rumors flew around about how you had to book a reservation here months in advance.

"I may have pulled some strings." He smirked. "But what good are favors if you can't call them in once and a while for important occasions?"

"How is this an important occasion?" The question flew out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Well, while I loved how our first date turned out in the end…I thought you deserved a proper date where we go to a nice restaurant. We can have some nice wine, some good food and just relax in each other's company. And since we have been trading off on one-upping each other making dinner, I think it would be nice to let someone fully trained in culinary arts do all the work for us this time." He explained.

"I love you, you know that. Right?" She smiled. "And not for bringing me here, but for thinking about me and us. This is a wonderful surprise."

"It's not even close to what you deserve."

She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Shall we go in?" He held out his arm.

"Let's." She linked her arm with his.

As they were seated in the special dining room called the Skybox, he watched her face. She was looking all around at the framed pictures in the room. But her eyes really lit up when she saw that one of the glass windows overlooked the kitchen.

"Your waiter will be with you in just a moment with your wine." The hostess who led them up to the Skybox told them before departing.

"How will the waiter know our wine choice?" She questioned.

"I may have already put the wine and food order in when I pulled the strings to get this table." He smiled.

"You know, I can't believe this." Victoria gushed, looking down at the kitchen. "It's like a perfectly choreographed dance down there. Everyone seems to have their part down to a science and they just work as a team amongst the chaos."

"Maybe they could teach us a thing or two about that back at the firm." He joked, noticing that she went over to her side of the table and sat down.

"I don't think we need to be taught anything." She corrected him. "I think we just need to be more mindful about things."

"Perhaps." He agreed. "You know, I never did thank you for taking care of my clients while I was gone."

"It was fine." She shrugged. "I didn't mind."

"No, it was a big help and I want you to know that I do appreciate it."

"You're welcome." She smiled. "To be completely honest, the added work was a nice distraction."

"I shouldn't have left town like that for so long."

"Hey." She reached across the table and took his hand in hers. "It's alright. Everything is fine now."

"How are you not still furious with me?" He chuckled. If the situation was reversed and she had left for a week he wouldn't be able to guarantee that he was as calm or forgiving about it as she has been. He couldn't help but wonder what her secret was to stay so calm about it.

"There is a part of me that is still mad about it." She admitted. "But what good is acting on that going to do? You've apologized for it. You've explained it. I've forgiven you for it. Focusing on the anger would only prolong the time we spend apart and I don't want to do that. I choose instead to focus on the positives. You love me and I love you."

"So it's just that simple?"

"Hell no." She chuckled. "Things between us haven't been simple for a long time. But wouldn't it be nice to just be together? To try and ignore all of the drama that seems to follow us around and just be happy?"

"That would be nice." He had to admit she had a point. "Though I am hopeful that some of the drama will be behind us now. Robert and I have had a talk about not putting you in the middle of us anymore."

"Really?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I went to Robert and we talked through everything...how we need to leave you out of our issues with each other and about our relationship."

"I have to say I'm impressed." She chuckled. "I didn't think you would be brave enough to talk to Robert about us."

He laughed too. "I'm not that big of a coward."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that…"

"No. It's fine." He assured her. "I know what you meant."

"So you really talked to Robert about us?"

"Yes." He nodded. "And he not so subtly told me if I screw it up with you again he will get involved."

She smirked. "That sounds like him."

"Well the joke is on him because I don't plan on screwing it up with you again." He promised her. "I am committed to making us work."

"I am too."

"Which brings me to something I haven't known how to mention without causing problems…"

"What is it?" She asked.

"I'm sorry that Louis chose to ignore me and tried to blackmail you. It wasn't fair to you."

"No." She shook her head. "It wasn't. But Louis and I are fine now. I'd like to think we are on our way to becoming friends."

"I think that is a true statement." He nodded. "But the thing that gnaws at me is there's something in your past that Louis knows but you don't want me to know. It had to be pretty serious for him to think he could blackmail you about it."

He watched as she sighed and pulled her hand back out of his. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her tonight but in the interest of being open and honest he felt addressing the elephant in the room was the best course of action.

"It's not that I don't want you to know." She said after being silent for a few moments. "I do want to tell you and I plan on telling you. But it's one of those things that once you know, you can't forget. We just got back together and we're trying to work things out to get on solid ground, to make a solid foundation for our relationship. I don't think it would be fair to tell you right now."

He thought about her reasoning for a moment. It wasn't a good feeling to know that Louis knew something important about Victoria that he didn't know. He hated that and had considered going to Louis to demand the man told him everything. But if Victoria didn't feel like telling him, he would have to support her decision. "You are going to tell me sooner or later though, right?"

"Of course." She nodded. "Just not right now. I hope you can understand and respect that."

The fact that she agreed to eventually tell him made it sting a little less. He could tell by looking in her eyes that she meant it. She would tell him. He just had to be patient. He didn't like it. But he could do that for her.

"I can respect that." He promised her, making her smile. He was about to say something else when a man appeared with glasses and a bottle of wine.

"Hello, my name is Pierre and I will be serving you tonight. I've come with some lovely Dom Perignon." He started to pour it into the glasses. "Can I get you two anything else at the moment?"

"No." He answered. "I think we are fine right now. Thank you."

"Very well. I will be back to check on you in a little while. Your first course should be out shortly."

He waited until the man was out of the room before looking back at Victoria. He grabbed his glass and held it up. "I propose a toast."

"Ok." She smiled, holding up her glass. "What should we toast to?"

It didn't take him long to think of the perfect thing to say. "When we met, we were kids—kids who thought they knew all about the world and how to be adults. But still we were kids. I messed up our relationship and changed the course of our lives from what we thought they would be. But somehow you came back into my life like a beautiful, smart, fierce boomerang. Whether it is fate, God's will, or something else entirely it doesn't matter. You're back in my life and I know now that I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you stay in my life. I love you, Vic and that will never change. So cheers to a new chapter to our story."

"I'll definitely drink to that." She grinned, clinking her glass with his.

A/N: A huge thank you to everyone who has read this story and a special thank you to those who have left reviews! I apologize for the lateness in getting this chapter out. Life sometimes gets in the way and it is annoying. I have a sequel to this mapped out and I haven't forgotten about my other story, Culpability. To be honest, I haven't updated Culpability because I know once that story is done the trilogy for those characters will be over and I don't want to say goodbye to them. But Culpability will be updated again on a regular basis soon. A sequel to this story will also be up soon too because Harvey and Victoria have more story ahead of them. Thanks for reading! :)


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